Legend of the Seven Lights
by Gamewizard2008
Summary: The Apocalypse is only a month away, and threatens to destroy the whole universe. Everyone must ban together to find the Seven Lights and 13 Darknesses so they may enter the New World, and build a new one. With many powerful bodies racing for victory, chaos is imminent.
1. To You, A Trillion Years From Now

**…Sigh… Wow… I can't believe it… we're actually here. _Legend of the Seven Lights_… wow. It makes you think how fast time goes. And that's sort of a focus on this story. :/ I mean, this'll be the biggest thing since _Firstborn_. I'm actually nervous. Sigh, okay, let's do it. The long-awaited sequel to _Legend of the Eight Firstborn_ starts now. Heck, looking at how much support that got, I'm… not expecting the same here. But hey, it's a new generation. And I'm writing it, either way. …Here we go.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>To You, A Trillion Years From Now. A Quest That Will Test All Strengths.<em>**

_"Water."_

_"Earth."_

_"Fire."_

_"Air."_

_"Poison."_

_"Shadow."_

_"Psychic."_

_"Fear."_

_"Light…"_

_"Darkness…"_

_"SPACE…"_

_"…**TIME**…"_

_Trillions of years ago, the God of the Universe, Arceus, created all the other gods, who worked to shape the universe with their amazing elemental abilities. As time passed, the gods granted mortal beings the powers of these elements. And with these elements, the mortals shaped their own destinies. Whether they chose the Path of Good, or the Path of Evil, their destinies and their histories were recorded in the Memory of Time._

_A terrible tragedy happened, where Arceus fell into a fit of rage, and his essence was scattered. He was revived by the one known as Negatar Gnaa, who used Arceus to bring the cosmos into ruin. But with the guidance of Morgan Catherine, and many noble heroes, and villains, by her side, Gnaa teamed up with his opposite, Aang, and brought Arceus to the light. The universe was brought into a new era of peace._

_This is a story that many now know. But what they didn't know… was Arceus created _another_ universe, before creating the other gods. This universe was known as the First Dimension. This dimension was so chaotic, so unbalanced, that Arceus had to seal it away. For without other gods to give it order, it would fall into ruin. And to keep its chaos from leaking into the new dimensions, Arceus sealed it with a powerful lock, made from the most powerful of the elements: Time._

_But this was not the only reason Arceus wanted the dimension sealed. Before its imprison… Arceus destroyed the central world of that dimension, with an incredible cataclysm, called the Apocalypse, and ordered the survived inhabitants of that world to design a brand new one. He told them that was where they would live… but as they finished their design of this beautiful new world, he lied. And the Lock of Time kept them sealed away, to prevent beings of this New World from learning the truth._

_The gods stole the credit for this world's design, and no evidence of these exiles' existence remained. Because of the gods' balance… the universe entered trillions of years of peace…. however:_

_Unknown to Arceus, two worlds were created, instead of one. One that existed on a parallel plane, but intersected with the former. And in the process, a second gate, besides the Time Gate. This was known as the Space Gate. With no lock, the unbalanced energy would begin to leak from this gate, and in time, the great cataclysm that destroyed the first world – The Apocalypse – would happen again. And it would've been the Negatar's actions, that would set these events in motion. The great cataclysm that would destroy everyone…_

_But as was the case with these first people, there would be hope for the people of this created world. When the Day of Apocalypse would near… 20 Keys of Light and Darkness would be awakened. These keys would open the way for those deemed worthy enough to enter the Land of Dreams… and from there, design the very foundation of the brand New World._

(Play "Hurricane Suite" from _Naruto: Shippuden_.)

The Underworld. Center of darkness, sadness, and misery in all the universes. The souls of the fallen cursed to drift in its eerie rivers, the sins of their lifetime giving it warmth, and their tears of sadness letting it flow. It was a very dark place, where dark things happened. And in the deepest of catacombs, a dark entity waited, and her simple associate, for a dark purpose. She was a towering colossus, her hair snaky and her green eyes sharp. Standing at her feet, a chubby man with a growing black beard, munching his cherry pie as he stared at a newspaper. It bared the image of Zanifr Mimchi, a gray-skinned being with thin orange horns, beaten and bloody, stains on his black shirt and purple cape. Wrists chained to a wall, having been arrested at Underworld Prison.

_UNDERWORLD PRISON'S BIGGEST, EASIEST(?) CATCH_

_On what seemed like an average day, newly-appointed prison warden, Magellan reported finding a near-dead mortal unconscious outside Underworld Prison's front gates. Left by an anonymous culprit, a note confirmed this being to be Zanifr Mimchi, the true identity of infamous rebel demon Majora, considered in the same league as Ganondorf. While none knows of his attacker, nor the events leading to his arrival here, for crimes against demon and spiritkind, he is awaiting punishment in the deepest confines of Underworld Prison. Magellan stated to have locked Majora in his own private cell, lest he stir trouble with the other inmates of that floor. Security in the prison has been doubled tenfold on the alert for any suspicious characters and prevention of break-ins._

The man laughed ecstatically, mouth wide with several teeth missing along his lips. "Zehahahahahahaha! I can never stop looking at it! I just feel so prideful in my work! You think they'll grant me a pardon 'cause of this?"

_"I doubt it."_ Medusa's voice echoed. _"They aren't like the cheesy mortals of the overworld. But Zanifr's betrayal, _really_ proved helpful."_

"Zeeehaha. For now… but how do you know he'll try to save him?"

_"In his foolish mission to follow his mother's footsteps… he'll show sympathy for anyone. I'll have to rely on it. The rest of the Darknesses are down there."_

"Ahhh, but Darknesses are easy. They're already corrupted. Not to mention, _I_ reached the Logia level. Shouldn't you worry more about the Lights?"

_"Hmmm, it's true, some will be difficult. But this world is doomed nonetheless. They can never handle it all. The corrupt government, the business empires, those measly supervillains… everyone will engage in the race for survival. The event that was precursored in 2012, will now happen 20 years later. I have been forestalling this day, ever since I helped those shabby fools defeat Arceus. I'm just glad I don't have to put up with that whiny bald brat anymore."_

"Awww, but Lord Gnaa was the light of the party. It's sad to think he already made it ahead of us. He won't have to worry when it happens; 'less his opposite takes the beating. Zehahahahaha!"

_"Be more concerned for your own… Blackbeard. When time comes to save the other Darknesses, don't expect them to get so buddy with you."_

"I'm actually looking forward! It'd be great to have some REAL company! I've actually read about what these people have done, and perhaps we could exchange a few ideas."

_"I'll hold you to that…"_ Medusa looked to the heavens with a relaxed sigh. _"Mmm HAAA hahahahahaha! The tides are changing, Blacky! The worlds are entering a new age! A time where ALL beings have to show their stuff or sink in their filth! If they thought the Firstborn Quest was overbearing, JUST WAIT! By the end of this, there may hardly be anything left! Get ready, mortals… as of this day: THE QUEST FOR THE SEVEN LIGHTS HAS BEGUN! AAAAAH HA HA HA! AAAAAA HA! HA! HA! HAAAA!"_

* * *

><p><strong>FanFiction presents…<strong>

**A Gamewizard2008 production…**

**In association with Depthcharge Industries, Mika Works, Dani's Dynamites, Em, Kim, and April Inc., and Freyre Works…**

**Also characters from Nintendo, Insomniac Games, Ubisoft, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network…**

**Voice recording studios: 4kids Productions and FUNimation Entertainment…**

(both companies' logos appear beside each other, an electric spark between them, signifying rivalry)

**With the special voicing talents of:**

**Tara Strong**

**Sharon Mann**

**Mark Hamill**

**Jennifer Hale**

**Jason Harris**

**And many more…**

**…**

**…**

**…**

**…**

_"Wooock a-bye Heeeershey, ooon de Earth top. Wheeen de dark blooows, da moooon will rock. Wheeen space breeeaks, de moonie will fall. And IIII goooot a spooooon."_

"Jar Jar! What are you doing now? !" Darkrai yelled.

"I was pretending to be spooky-wooky." he said, holding Majora's Mask.

"Stop it! We're the development team, so we have to keep this story from not becoming a wreck, while at the same time making it ridonkulous as possible. Now put that down!"

He flew away, and Jar Jar patiently followed. "Can I's be in de shrinkee story?"

"No."

**_Legend_**

**of the**

**_SEVEN LIGHTS_**

**…Loading Final Transmission…**

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah… that was the small prologue. Compared to the rest… pssh, this is gonna be WAY longer than <em>Firstborn<em>, let me tell you. So yeah, I'm posting it in the _KND_ section now, gonna move it to crossovers later, give You-Know-Who enough time to report me. I posted a few trailers on my dA account if you're curious; also, if for some reason you aren't caught up with my series, might I suggest reading the previous stories, otherwise you will get nothing here. That includes my original series, _Firstborn_ is pretty much rewritten and certain things are changed, so refresh on that. But for stories that haven't been totally rewritten, well, the others are no big deal. And I think we've all established that _Monty's Galactic Days_ is only so much canon. Meaning, not very. But thanks to all who've stuck with me this far; not many probably, we've got only one last road to go. …That, and a few filler stories like the Negaverse one. Next time… the journey begins. Later.**


	2. It Begins With But a Song

**Yoi-yoi! Haaaah… well, people, as stunned as I am to say it… here is the official beginning to _Legend of the Seven Lights_. In this one, we'll introduce a few of the story arcs, but be prepared for MANY more chapters to come. Also, this first saga is called the Frozen Saga, leave it up to you to determine why. Let's do it!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>The Journey of Thousands of Miles Begins With But a Song! This Generation's Heroes Called To Arms!<em>**

**NFL Stadium; Detroit, Michigan**

The stadium was roaring with thousands of ecstatic fans, all hopping and hollering over their favorite sport: football. The game seemed like a sure win for the Canton Rushers, led by legendary rookie football-player, Ish Taylor. The slim rookie evasively dodged three buff men from the opposing team, the Blitzers, and was about to score another touchdown. But as if out of nowhere, lightning flashed in the sky, and rain started to pour furiously.

"Wuh-oh. Seems we're getting some bad weather, Chip." Reporter Nick noticed.

"The sky was clear just a while ago, Nick, I don't see-" And even more unsurprisingly, a tornado suddenly spiraled onto the field and sucked all of the football-players away.

_"Whoooa-WHOOA-WHOOOOAAAA!"_ The tornado was gone in seconds as flags shot down from the heavens and stuck in the ground. They all bore the image of a smirking white face with long silver hair, which covered the right eye (from our view) and revealed only the furrowed left eye, and evil grin. From atop the stadium, the Man With the Red Eye's cape blew in the wind, his form shadowed. It lit up for brief moments as lightning flashed, but his body was soon gone with the wind.

**Los Angeles, California**

A bright and sunny day over Los Angeles. The seas were calm this morning as the sun's lovely rays glinted off the waves. Just a little off the beach, a class of children in swimwear performed stretches and poses as the water moved with their bodies, mimicking the movements of their teacher, Eva Jackson. "Remember, kids, to learn how to bend water means going with the flow. Aside from having a fairly flexible body, it's about adjusting to the changes you encounter. True, it's still a little too early to have any changes, but when that time comes, you'll have to get those legs stretching."

"But Ms. Jackson, don't waterbenders bend better in the nighttime?" a boy asked.

"Yes, but no one wants to go to night school." Eva smirked. "Plus the water is much warmer in the daytime. But if you practice hard enough, I promise to take you on a fieldtrip to Oceana." She winked.

"YAAAAY!"

**Rocky Mountains**

At the same time, Angelie McKenzie was teaching a group of barefoot kids on a flat, large peak of the mountains. "To know how to bend what's unmovable, you have to be unmovable yourself. When you know how to take hits and not be pushed around, you'll have the heart as strong as a rock."

One of the boys pushed down a girl next to him. "HA HA! She fails!"

The girl angrily stomped the ground and sent him flying with a rock-jab. "You FLAIL, Max!"

Angie then trapped the girl in a rock prison. "Come on, guys, be serious. Or you won't be able to take out Luvbi's airbending class."

"Those flyguys are cheaters, anyway!" Max yelled.

"Then it's important we know how to cheat 'em down." Angie winked.

**Dusty Desert**

"Alright, kids," Nigel began to his class of firebenders, "the most important thing to know about fire is- YAAH!" A green fire shot his butt and scared him away.

"Outta the way, Boy, they need a REAL lecture." Fanny stated, marching to his spot. "Alright, kids, here's a story to motivate ya: the story of two kids, a boy and a girl, who discover their firebending at the same time. During that time, the boy was fairly skilled and powerful with his firebending, but by the time they grew up, the GIRL reached the Logia level first, because SHE took time to hone her skills and get strong. The moral is, no matter how talented the snobby boy was, the girl was sure to beat him. Burn this lesson into your minds, boys."

"HECK no!" a boy declared. "I'll kick any girl's butt! YAAAAH!" A 5-year-old girl burned his rear from behind.

"I hereby bump her to the next level." Fanny smirked. Nigel sighed and walked away with a look of shame.

**On a Sky Island**

A group of students stood worriedly on the edge of a cloud, thousands of miles above the earth, as Luvbi floated over the abyss before them. "Pray, let us learn without wetting yonder pants. Air be an element of utmost freedom, having nary a fear of falling and dying a horrible, blood-splattering death."

The children were shaking in their Greek-style robes.

"Today's lesson shalt be about defying such gravity, as thou plummet to the very ground and land much safely on thine feet. Now… who wouldst liketh to go first?" She winked.

The others scootched away from a single boy on Luvbi's left. "Thou!"

"Huh—AAAAAH!" Luvbi forcibly pulled him off the edge with a gust and allowed him to fall. It felt like a dangerous ride at the amusement park, except the danger was all too real, lest he do something. The wind brushed against his face with incredible speed, and he was barely able to open his eyes. He wouldn't be able to see the coming of his own death, would never be able to stop it. He wondered what that would look like. His bones shattering like glass and his blood shooting miles across the- OH GOD he didn't wanna think about it! He furiously flailed his arms downward to make a wind barrier, but the wind resistance was too strong against him to do so.

"AaaaaaaAAAAAHH!" And in a flash, his falling ceased, just inches from the solid earth. Luvbi had grabbed the collar of his shirt, looking at his teacher with a sheepish grin. She proceeded to fly him back to the clouds to try again.

**Junkyard area**

Matthew Dimalanta and his students gathered at a filthy junkyard, the stench unbearable and the skies fogged by yellow clouds. There weren't very many girls. "So I take it you guys don't like the smell." He said. "Fact is, we're poisonbenders, so we stink too, and people don't wanna hang out with us. For that reason, we gotta try and make friends, so that way we'll smell nice, even if it's other poisonbenders."

"Huh? ?" questioned a boy (they're so dumb X)).

"The whole meaning of poisonbending in a nutshell. But how about, if you master this power, you get to fart all over girls' tea parties with extra fart power."

"YAAAAY!" exclaimed the boys, and two tomboys.

**Sunset hill**

In a region that was always twilight, Virginia Stork stretched her shadow for miles and miles beyond the sunset, but her dark-clothed students could only go a fourth of that way. "Come on, dudes, you're not gonna be able to scare people with a puny shadow."

"Miss Sims, is it true that a lot of shadowbenders kill their selves?" a little girl asked.

"Naaah, of course not! Timebenders do that. Too bad Danika isn't here, though; she's the expert. But listen guys, keep it up, and I'll introduce you to some really awesome music!" She inhaled and blew smoke from a cigarette.

**Philippines; behind Roxas Elementary**

Mikaela Chariton sat cross-legged in midair as her students successfully did the same. "Yaaaaay you're doing it!" she grinned. "I'm an excellent teacher! I think now I'll teach you one of my personal favorites, the Psycho Shrink!"

"Sweet!" a boy perked. "I know the _first_ person I'm gonna use it on." He smirked wickedly at a girl.

She glared in disbelief. "Miss Mika, when will you teach us how to make Imaginary Friends?"

"Hehe, I'm not lookin' to give you headaches, kids. I've only made a few, but this friend of mine is REALLY good at it! Her name's Morgan, and she's a psychic legend!"

"Where is Miss Morgan?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, she's kinda got a job right now. But maybe I'll invite 'er over when she has time!" she grinned. "Alright, now who wants to shrink first?"

"Ohh-ohh! I do!" the boy perked.

At a snap of Mika's fingers, the boy was 3 inches tall. "GREAT, now everyone gets to play with him!"

_"HEY! You cheat!"_

**St. Kilgore's Graveyard**

"And last but not least, fearbending." Katie began.

"Um… what?" questioned a boy.

"Nothing. The thing is, Fear is a difficult element to master, 'cause it involves getting scared a lot and facing a lot of conflict, and no one wants that. But it's a lot easier to master when you show _no_ fear. Just look in the face of danger without so much as blinking, and in time, that danger will fear you. Just ask my friend Mandy, wherever the heck she is on her pirating adventure. Now who wants to meet my friend, Cookie Monster?"

"COOKIIIIEEE!" A large, blue-furred Cookie Monster with horns shot up from behind them.

"AAAAAHHH!" the kids cowered away in seconds.

"…You say they would take me to Monster Ball!"

"Ask someone else, Doughboy."

**Philippines; Rainier's School For Benders**

Principal Rainier Chariton sat in his office, signing papers. Things were quiet as normal at his school, since classes took place miles from the grounds. He looked up as one of his teachers, Flynn Alcaraz walked in. "Hey, we just got that new shipment of ramen noodles from Japan."

"Sweet! That really oughta boost the firebenders' strength."

"Ahhhh… boy, Rainy… 15 years this school's been standing… hard to believe how many benders sprung up. Still, having all the classes take place all around the world just feels… well, complicated."

"No, nonsense! It's why we have pairs of psychicbenders located at these drop-off points to warp people back and forth between regions. They use a tele-transportation technique and link with their partners to warp people or things to them."

"I know all THAT, it just feels like a real chore for them."

"Well, they know it's for the good of teaching these kids all they need to know." Rainier stood up as the two walked across the hall. "Speaking of which, how are things in the gym going?"

"Oh, it's going well. We are having squabbles between some of the students."

"Who?"

"Can you guess?" They entered the gym, where-

"AAAAAHH!" A boy in a karate robe was forcibly climbing across the rings high up on the ceiling. "P-Principal Chariton, make Sunni stooooop!"

They looked as Rainier's daughter, in her own karate robe, had her eyes closed as she forced the boy to climb across the rings using psychic. Rainier approached and did a quick punch on her head, blocking her chi. "AaaaAAAH-!" Flynn saved the boy before he fell.

"Uh! Daaaaad! I almost made it!" Sunni yelled.

"Honey, today is a martial arts class, you aren't supposed to use your bending." Rainier chuckled.

"So what, I've never been good at that stuff. Why do I need martial arts when I can just pick people up and throw 'em around with my mind?"

"Well, some situations might rob you of your bending. Like so." He flicked her nose.

"Ow!"

"Honey, even if you're the greatest bender in the world, there's a hundred other ways to fight. You need to open yourself up a bit more, look at your sister."

"HUH, HUH, HUAH!" Darcy Chariton was fiercely kicking a blonde-haired boy trying to defend, and succeeded in kicking him down. "He he!" She spared a grin at her dad.

Sunni frowned in anger. "Only because she's a screw-up at psychic. But I need to get better control of my element. Why can't I join Mom's class?"

"Your mom trains you every day, she needs to work with other students." He ruffled his daughter's hair. "And she knows you can handle yourself just fine. …Unless when it involves bullying other kids. Just keep training yourself in combat, it'll do wonders. After all, exercise is good for the brain, and that's where psychic is concentrated. Good luck, Honey!" He walked out with Flynn.

Darcy approached Sunni with a happy smile while the latter mumbled in anger. _"Never see MOM throwing her fists…"_

"Hehe! I'm glad to finally kick your butt!"

"WHOOA!" Darcy kicked Sunni off her feet.

"Hee hee hee!"

**KND Moonbase**

Things were still calm and normal on Moonbase. Or rather, Cheren's office. The boy was signing papers and filing them aside, ignoring all the commotion outside. That noise was increased for a brief second when Larry MayHence quickly slipped in and shut the door. "Sir, we're receiving numerous phone calls from almost every sector on Earth."

"Sigh, man, what is everyone so whiny about."

"Maybe the fact you announced the end of the world just 3 days ago."

"So, that's more than enough time to calm down about it. Heck, the only reason I warned them was to be ready; the whole purpose is to try and stop it."

"So how do we stop it, Sir?"

"Find these 20 Keys, I guess."

"Well, I can get you seven flashlights, but Thirteen Darknesses, you have to be a little more specific. Like, we talkin' bloody knives or scary movies or something?"

"Sigh, I don't know what they are myself. They sound like people; or they could be like the Firstborn."

"Weren't the Firstborn people?"

"No, they were gods, the people just protected them. But that brings up a good question. What _if_ the Firstborn know something about this? Especially Uxie; I'll fly down and ask her what she knows! I mean, the Goddess of Knowledge don't know anything, no one does."

"Well, do you know where Uxie lives?"

"I'll just ask Mr. Garley; he was her Guardian." He stood up. "I'll be back in a few!"

"But there's still a mob outside."

"Right." He winked. "Good luck, buddy." Cheren raced to an escape pod on the side of his office and shot down to Earth. Larry looked after him worriedly, flinching when the mob suddenly broke the door down.

"Ulp! CherEEEEEN! I thought you filled in that order for a SECOND ESCAPE POOOOD!" And the mob tackled him with questions.

**Dickson Household**

_"And so ends the tale of the little platypus… who discovered alcohol."_ Eva Jackson reported on the news.

_"In other news, panic is still widespread across the nation due to recent news of a supposed, upcoming Apocalypse."_ Kade replied. _"When asked what he thinks, President McGarfield had this to say:"_

_"As your humble president, I can safely assure you that any news of some 'Apocalypse' is likely the work of some ratty ne'er-do-wells,"_ assured President Jimmy McGarfield, _"and our forces are lookin' to capture the perpetrator, and give him one wallopin' of a beating."_

_"And thus, our country can continue to hope."_ Kade concluded. _"Coming up, a man who has claimed to've spot little people in his backyard is currently-…"_

Chad Dickson watched the news with a gruff look and folded arms. His wife, Emily Dickson walked in with two plates of tea. "You still watching that crud?"

"It's not crud, Emily, it's the real deal, you know it was coming."

"Well, yeah, so there's not much reason to be so hooked on it." She sat beside him.

"I'm just surprised it happened so soon." He took one of the cups. "But we're hearing from all of Sector V's parents saying how their kids kicked those pirates' butts. Heck, you remember what happened with Dimentia's kid earlier."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?"

"What I'm saying is that everyone else's kids got so much stronger and _our_ son's still a big wimp."

"Uh, don't say that about him! He's seven years old, of course he wouldn't be that strong."

"Pfft, when I was that age, I could already beat Numbuh 100 at arm-wrestling. But hopefully after Rupert gets back from his 50-lap run around the high school, he'll at least have dried out his tearducts from all his sweating." He sipped the tea. "Mmm, this stuff is good, though…"

"Good thing I got Iroh's secret recipe!" Emily grinned.

A knock was heard at the door as Rupert Dickson slumped in, almost totally out of breath with sweat in his armpits and pants. "Ahhh, right on time." Chad walked up and knelt beside his son, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Feel burned out, Champ? Those legs feel strong enough to kick a steel pole down?"

"Heh, if only, right Dad?" Rupert smiled nervously and walked away.

Chad sniffed the hand that was on his shoulder and gave a suspicious frown. "See any cute girls at the pool?"

"Well, I saw Lilac's mom and, well, she was pretty-, eh heh heh heh heh." He blushed sheepishly.

"But I don't recall the pool being on your route, nor you having enough time to visit there afterward."

"Oh… well, I guess I just… got done early, heheh."

"Yeah. Or maybe…" Chad launched over and immediately pinned the boy under his foot, "I smell POOL WATER on your shirt!"

"AAAH! Okay okay, I didn't run all the laps! Well, I ran one, but then I saw this family driving to the pool and, well…"

"Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself, because NOW you just lost meatballs for dinner. Not that you- OWW!"

"GET OFF him, Chad." demanded Emily as she twisted his hand from behind. "Or SOMEONE'S about to lose THEIR-… well, I probably shouldn't say that in front of our child."

"…Uuugh. Fine. Go take a bath, Son." Chad stepped off and let Rupert run upstairs. Emily released Chad as he turned to her. "Look, Em, I know we're supposed to have equal say in our parenting, but do you really plan to baby him his whole life?"

"Well, at least I'm not BULLYING him like some helpless little ant!"

"Please, at least ants are strong for their size, but Rupert can't even lift a box that's half his own weight! And didn't he trip on that stick in the yard yesterday?"

"All I'm saying is, Rupert isn't a man yet, he's a kid, and he can't be strong like you are, yet."

"It isn't just about being strong, Rupert doesn't have ANY notable skills, except playing videogames. He either needs to learn something to prepare him for things to come, or get some muscle."

"Rupert needs to enjoy his freedom as a normal kid, and when nature calls, I know he'll have the strength and know-how to pull through. You just gotta have faith. Anyway, I'm going out shopping, and I don't want you pestering Rupert for the rest of the day, or you'll be administering punishment on _yourself_ if you know what I mean. See you later." With that, she left out the door.

Chad sat on the couch in thought. Maybe Emily was right. Rupert would have the strength and know-how to pull through… when nature calls. Yeah… when nature calls. "That's not a bad idea!" he smirked.

**Gallagher Elementary**

"Never have I been so glad to say it, but I LOOOOVE going to the cafeteria." Mason expressed as the group walked down the hall after hearing the ring of the lunch bell.

"Yeah, compared to eating all that candy, it makes ya miss Gramma Stuffum's slop." Harry said.

"It's not slop, I find the Meat Hogs quite delicious." Artie said.

"Makes me wonder why you still a skinny boy." Harry smirked.

"All I'm saying is, she wouldn't fail for a decent-" The vent suddenly fell open above them, and Sheila dropped down.

"WOOHOOOOO!" cheered the energetic raccoon. "It's LUNCH time, cobbers! Let's blow this joint and have an adventure!"

"What're you doing here, Sheila, you don't go to this school!" Chris yelled.

"Yeh, but me mom thought I should take the day off from mine and see how YOU blokes are doin'! So did ya find anything on these 20 Keys?"

"No, and we're kinda swamped in a pile of homework for missing more than a week." Harry replied.

"Well, bonkers, SURELY savin' the world has ta count for extra credit?"

"The world's well-being isn't part of the curriculum, so no." replied Haylee.

"Well, those teachers should just suck on what they give." she stated as she joined her friends to the lunchroom. "What's for eatin', anyway?"

"Well, Gramma Stuffum's our chef, so you figure it out." Aurora said.

"Blimey, so you guys fight her every day?"

"Yeah, but it's gotten a little worn-out." Chris said. "These Brotherhood guys are pretty much slumping."

"But I just wish she'd just hand us the food so we'd have more time for homework." Artie said.

"Well, if you guys want a break, Ah'll deliver a hand to old Stuffum for ya!" Sheila grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"Well, since she's only one-fourth Big Mom's height, give it a go!" Mason grinned.

"Right then." She faced the cafeteria with sureness. "'ere I go!" (Play Gramma Stuffum's Song from _KND_!)

_Stage 1: The Lunch House Rock!_

_Mission: Blow down Gramma Stuffum's lunch line!_

The strumming of the electric guitar already rung as Sheila dashed down the strangely-long cafeteria line. And, while no one else seemed to see it, a wide-faced grinning fairy creature was pressing eyeballs that appeared on the wall, doing so when a loud beat of the music played. The eyes also released glowing yellow spheres with wings, making a trail for Sheila to pick up, and they seemed to flow with the rhythm whenever she touched one. All in all, the road was pretty straightforward as Gramma Stuffum hadn't released her food minions yet, but dead pieces of meat began to cover the ground that Sheila had to jump. But that all changed the minute she punched down an upcoming wall of meat.

The strums boomed louder as Food Patrols monsters popped out from the counter, another line coming out whenever Sheila broke a meat wall. Stacks of Icy Cubes formed like stairs, so Sheila jumped up them, then punched a Toasted Bat that came at her, and upon landing, she had to jump a series of Meat Hogs. Toasted Bats tried to nip her whenever she jumped the hogs, but she punched them away anyway and soon made it to the kitchen. The minute she punched down the door, she had to jump to a tall platform, which fell, then another that fell, before grabbing a bone zipline and sliding to a safe path.

The kitchen was actually a vast wasteland of hideous foods, with a different kind of Food Minion landing to attack Sheila, but she still punched them as the rhythm went and kept running. At one point, she had to swing a series of hoops, up to a higher path as she punched more Foodlings. She then had to jump big gaps in the path while throwing rapid punches at a string of bats, then punched a whole stairway of bats as she jumped down a deeper chasm.

When she set foot on the next path, the music picked up as rounds of Foodlings and obstacles came at her, and Gramma Stuffum finally appeared on a flying Eggman-like pod. Sheila jumped up a set of stairs when she sang _"GRAMMA the STUFFUM"_, then down a slide when her Foodlings repeated. It was then a matter of jumping hazards or punching enemies until Stuffum released her giant SQUIDS! A series of giant tentacles shot up everywhere, Sheila running up the first one, jumping a gap before two shot at her, then dashing up a vertical tentacle and jumping between it and a parallel one to avoid other tentacles, all the while running from pursuing tentacles.

She safely made it to a new path and had to jump and punch a tentacle in its eye, at the same time the Foodlings chorused "NOOO." Sheila then dropped down a windy chasm, making a windy descent, then punched another tentacle at the end. She then jumped a stairway of Toast Bats to punch another tentacle, then was met with Gramma's sea of Gravy Rats. There were floating platforms among these rats that Sheila could jump across, and more Toast Bats trying to swoop her. She then had to jump and punch down vertical footholds to make them flat and run on them, and when the rats finally ended, Sheila dashed up two long, vertical walls.

Stuffum made parts of the parallel walls explode, forcing Sheila to jump between them, and the mysterious fairy creature continued to slap eyes in the wall to make Lums appear and guide Sheila's path. The raccoon made it atop the wall as Gramma Stuffum floated over her path.

_"YOOOOOU JUUUUST MAAAAKE MEEEE-"_ Sheila jumped and PUNCHED Stuffum out of her pod, then punched her further down the path, then knocked her against the counter at the end, and finished the song with a round of rapid punches before shoving Stuffum into the kitchen, the shutter snapping shut. Sheila faced the camera, grinned, and held up her fingers in a 'peace' sign. (End song.)

"WOOOHOO! That kicks off MY daily exercise!" Sheila perked, returning to the lunchroom.

"Yeah!" Chris said. "Now let's head outside for Phase 2." They hurried out to the playground as the school began trembling and the familiar chants echoed. _"SLAAAAMWIIIICH. SLAAAAMWIIIICH."_

Before their eyes, the colossal sandwich monster emerged from the school, his mouth drooling with molten cheese as he glared at Sector V with ravenous eyes. The kids spared a smirk at Aurora as the girl kicked on her Ice and Fire Gates. Brimming with the powers of both elements, she drilled directly into Slamwich's stomach, putting a worried look on him and Stuffum. Slamwich froze completely solid, and with a burst of fire, he was destroyed. "WAAAA-AAAAAHH!" Stuffum crashed on the ground.

Aurora landed beside her friends as her Fury Form vanished. "Didn't even break a sweat." She said proudly.

"Boy, these Brotherhood guys felt a lot more threatening in our parents' story." Chris said. "They don't challenge us anymore!"

"Well, what can you expect when they've been frozen in nitrogen for so long."

"Hey Sheila, wanna stay for lunch?" Mason asked.

"Well sure, Mate!" she perked. But then she recalled the grinning fairy creature and glanced right to see it fly away. "…'o the 'eck was that?…"

Still lain on her back, Stuffum doesn't think she's ever endured punches that tough. It was safe to say, it was a new record for how fast they defeated her. Her henchmen, Liver and Onions hopped over. "Gramma Stuffum, Sir! Are you okay? We still have a few leftover courses if…" Liver asked.

"Nooo… vhat is ze point." She got up and depressedly walked away. Liver and Onions exchanged sad glances.

**Washington; Garley Household**

The day was still bright over this little neighborhood, except a particular flying object was zooming close to Earth, a trail of smoke in its wake. The escape pod flipped and bounced along the street, Cheren flipping stylishly out of its hatch. He flew several feet in the air, and dove into a garbage can. The can toppled as Cheren crawled out, pulling a banana peel off. "Why do I keep forgetting to turn off the 'Trashcan' targeting option. Stupid oddly specific landing controls…" Cheren stepped up to the front door and rang the bell.

Matthew Garley hadn't changed much at all as an adult, a big purple coat, purple tie, sandals with socks, square glasses that looked bandaged in their center, and that classic nerdy voice. "Hey, you're Nigel's son! Heh heh heh, hwow, nice of you to visit!" he snorted. "I don't suppose you're here for a first-hand source of how your dad ended the tyranny of Old GKND, or the Tale of Numbuh 2030, or even how the 2nd KND Generation was originally-"

"Heheheh, maybe some other time, Mr. Garley." Cheren sweat-dropped. "Listen, I know you were friends with Uxie, so I was wondering if she told you anything about, Seven Lights and Thirteen Darknesses."

"Hmmmm. That would be a good topic to discuss with her. Unfortunately, I haven't, and I don't know where Uxie is either, since we set them free. But I've been doing research ever since Emily passed me your message. The best I could find was this old tale where seven princesses gathered to battle these thirteen bad guys for control of some key. I don't even know where it came from. But my quest for knowledge hasn't failed me, yet! Anyway… sorry I can't help much."

"It's okay. The only other person I assume would know is Grim." He looked away in thought. "May visit him about this. Anyway, how is Emily doing, anyhow?"

"Well, Kim's about to take her on a trip to Germany and visit the relatives. Apparently Kim's dad is the president of this major science and engineering company, Adams Tech Co.. Heh, you wouldn't believe how excited Emily is!"

"Ha ha ha! Probably snorting in her nasal cavities, right?"

"Ha ha ha HA!"

Cheren's wristwatch communicator then rang, and Larry's image appeared. "Oh, Larry. Listen, sorry about leaving you with the mob and stuff, but-"

_"Oh, that's no big deal. But listen, Cheren, someone's up here to see you."_

_"CHEREEEEENNN!"_ Cheren jumped at this familiar voice. _"GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE HAVE A SERIOUS TALK ABOUT YOUR CURRENT DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE!"_

Cheren whimpered slightly. "Can she at least promise not to Space Shrink me?"

_"She said that she's under no obligation to agree to conditions regarding such."_

"I'll be up there in 5 minutes." He hung up. "Well, guess I'll have to hold off on that. See you later, Mr. Garley." He pushed a button on the watch.

"Heh, anytime, Cheren." Cheren's R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. came down from the heavens as the boy jumped in and flew back to Moonbase.

**Unknown Hideout**

The elderly tycoon known simply as Mom (thankfully not the Big one ;)) limped into her hideout and pressed a button on a small panel. Four hologram projectors around the room activated, revealing the staticky images of the other Corporate Presidents. In the very center, the gigantic head of the Head President buzzed to life, her hologram much too staticky to make out her appearance. "Nice to _see_ all of you again." Mom said smugly.

_"Alright, let's get down to some serious business: why the hell is 4kids still supplying our voice actors? !"_ complained the gruff old president.

_"Come on, cut 4kids a break, at least we're allowed to cuss now!"_ Doflamingo said brightly. _"And they got spirit, ya can't blame them for that!"_

_"No, that's not why we're here."_ the Head President stated. _"The World Leaders ordered our presence due to a hitch in their plan."_

_"Yes, it seems the Uno child became aware of the Apocalypse's existence."_ the Asian president said. _"President McGarfield can only keep the peace among the Americans for so long. Not that he'll be able to keep the Kids Next Door from interfering."_

_"Then it's time we take matters into our own hands."_ stated the remaining president, his hands folded. _"We must deliver those kids a painful, though legal, kicking away from our business."_

_"No, we can't make any rash appearances."_ the Head said. _"The Corporate Presidents already look bad thanks to Mom's blundering in Galaxia."_

"Well, if DOFLAMINGO hadn't've interfered, I could have-"

_"Please, Mom, there's no reason to point fingers."_ Doffy grinned. _"I just never recalled making the arrangement to lend you one of my associates."_

_"The Kids Next Door are likely aware of the Presidents' stake in all this due to the Caesar incident."_ the Head said. _"Before they begin to track us, the Leaders request our presence at a gathering on the Midway Peak; they'll also be inviting many nobles from around the world."_

_"What the hell do the nobles want in all this?"_ asked the old man.

_"Why, to enjoy the show, of course. Fu fu fu."_ Doflamingo laughed. _"A noble's job is to be humored by world conflict."_

_"Miss Head President, is it all right if we bring our _children_ onboard the trip?"_ asked the Asian. _"I am trying to introduce my son, Chane to the family business."_

_"Sure sure, bring whoever. But see that they're able to keep a secret."_

_"I don't think you'll have to worry about MY kids."_ assured Doffy. _"If there's one thing we're good at, it's secrets. Fufufu!"_

_"Good. You will be boarding the train tomorrow at 7a.m.. Don't be late."_ Her hologram vanished, as did the others.

Mom turned away with her wrinkly, smug face. "Oh trust me, I know a thing or two about keeping secrets…"

**York Household; Sandcave**

Another arduous day for Nolan "Sandman" York. He stared intently at his computer, skimming the criminals listed. Holiday… Fanatic… Promethean… Tornado… "Why…" He gripped his head with the most aggravating headache, "Why can't I REMEMBER any of these people? !"

He heard the doorway creak open, followed by the light stepping of his wife's feet coming down the stairs. "Nolan, are you still down here?"

"I just don't get it, Danika. These villains are listed in the police's files, and even my own. But no one has any clue who they are, even me! But why on Earth would I have them…"

"I don't know… to be honest, I can't even recall you fighting many villains lately. There was that Caesar guy, and of course the whole Dracula thing, Affright pops up every now and again, but those were awhile ago."

"Wait… Caesar…" Nolan pulled the man's file up. "According to Dillon's story, Caesar was acquired by one of his clients, Percival Tachyon, but they don't know where Caesar went following Tachyon's defeat. But what if… one of his _other_ clients got to him?"

"Like who?"

"Well, we can rule Big Mom out of the picture, since he said they didn't find Caesar on Candied Island. But here's one man that raises my interest." He pulled up a picture of none other than- "Don Quixote Doflamingo. President of Doflamingo Incorporated, a company that manufactures talking, semi-intelligent toys. He's labeled as one of the Corporate Presidents For Children's Entertainment; the same league as robot-manufacturer, Mom, whom was acquainted with Tachyon. The evidence is too high on him."

"So what, you're gonna go after Doflamingo?"

"No… not yet. I think I should do research on him; _all_ the Corporate Presidents, really. There was always something suspicious about them, and the whole Caesar thing takes the cake." He pushed himself away and rolled to an elevator. "I'll be leaving at seven; probably should make dinner early. It's gonna be a long night."

Dani watched her husband roll onto the platform, and rise to the upper level that was their house. "Better make extras for Crystal and Yuki, too…" the woman sighed.

**Chariton Household**

Her training class over, Mikaela Chariton was asleep against the tree in their backyard, once again lost in dreams. Sunni Chariton could very much tell that, seeing the smile on her mother's face. Sunni sighed calmly and pulled out her blue lightsaber. "AAAAHH!" She lunged at her mother with fierce determination, set on slicing her mother in half.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaaand we'll leave it off there. Soooo there was the first instance of song levels in this story, that's gonna be a regular Sheila thing. Well, maybe other characters. I was actually sort of stumped in that topic, I couldn't decide whether to write the stage in paragraphs, or put the actions in a lyrical form to better go along with the song. Still kind of thinking, really. Well, next time, we will do the next stage, and officially start one of my favorite story arcs. Laters!<strong>


	3. A World Under Your Nose

**Yo guys, welcome back to the show! In this one, we'll be further introducing the story arc characters and getting started with conflicts. So let's get it over with and get ready for the rest!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>A Peaceful World Under Your Nose. Rupert Shrinks to a Brand New Land!<em>**

**Gallagher Elementary**

"See you TOMORROW, Miss Stuffum!" Chris waved with a fake bright smile as they left the cafeteria. "Can't wait for your Scream-of-Spinach! Ahhh, beating her up is the best joy every day. Even if Sheila did all the work."

"Yeh, but, didn't you blokes see that thing?" Sheila asked.

"The Horsebutt Beef?" Artie asked. "Sorry, I ate that."

"No, Oi mean the-" But at that instant, Sheila, Chris, and Mason were trampled by a team of three buff teenagers dressed in conchshell armor, pulling a conchshell carriage.

"OUT of the way, less-graders!" exclaimed the girl on the carriage, dressed in a blackish-purple two-piece swimsuit, purple towel-cape, purple bucket crown with a shell crest, shell bracelets around her wrists and legs, and bare feet. She had black hair and black eyes. "Make way for your Fourth Grade QUEEN of the School, Princess SHELLY Johnson! Make sure to gather in the gymnasium after school for a one-on-one block-building tournament with First Grade President! In which **I** will once again take the crown. LAUGH with me, Knights, AH HAHAHAHA!" Their laughs echoed down the hall.

The three operatives were flat as pancakes as their friends helped them up. _Man, that Shelly is such a nag._ Kirie signed. _I can't believe they elected HER president._

"I can't believe they let her wear a bathing suit to school." Harry said.

"I can't believe her three uncles each had identical kids born on close dates and are serving as her knights." Mason noted.

"At least her dad didn't marry Aunt Mushi." Haylee said. "Otherwise we'd be related."

"Who was her mom, anyway?" Chris asked.

"I heard her parents actually got divorced and Sandy took full custody." Harry replied. "Guess we'll never know."

"Mates, are we gonna talk about bloody Queen Nag, or are we gonna go look for these 20 Keys? ?" questioned Sheila.

"Well, it's not like we know where to look." Aurora replied. "We're not really sure what a 'Light' or 'Darkness' is."

"Well, they could be light and darknessbenders." Mason noted. "Like…Like Sheila! Remember that whole lightshow that happened when we found that cube? Maybe that has something to do with it…"

"Oi, ripper! AH'M one of these Lights!" beamed Sheila.

"We don't really know that, yet." Aurora replied. "But I bet I know someone who could tell us: Mr. King."

"The successor of the guy that knows everything?" Harry asked. "Probably."

"Let's go to visit him after school." Haylee suggested. "I'm sure Her Highness won't notice a few missing her oh-so-famous block-building contest. She always wins, anyway."

"How come?" Sheila asked as they walked off.

"'Cause the other presidents' blocks always fall at the last minute. Not sure why."

"Maybe she's Irish." Artie said. "Ha ha! Get it? 'Cause-"

"IRISH ARE LUCKY." they chorused.

**Chariton Household**

"AAAAHH!" Sunni lashed her saber at her sleeping mother, but Mika whipped out her own lightsaber and blocked.

"Awwwww Mr. Hatter, did you remember my unbirthdaaaay?" Mika moaned in her sleep.

Sunni swung her blade around every direction, but Mika was quick to defend, not peeping her eyes open for a second. When Sunni swung at her legs, Mika flipped overhead and landed on her feet. "Absalom, you smoke's makin' feel oopsy whoopsiiiiee." She wobbled in place, drool leaking from her mouth.

Sunni tried to stab Mika with her saber, only for the woman to defend again. Sunni wondered if Mika was secretly conscious, or if her very instincts told her to fight in her sleep. Either way, it made Sunni very furious. Sunni threw a Psycho Sphere, but Mika kicked it to the sky, and when Sunni tried to slice her leg, Mika warped behind, then Sunni tried to slice again, but Mika snapped her fingers and warped her. Sunni was suddenly dangling by her hair in Mika's fingers, the size of a golfball.

"Yooooouu silly mousyyyy, of course I'll have the cake. Yom, yoom, yoooom."

Sunni shook like an angry rabid mouse. _"PUT ME DOWN, MOM, LET ME GO!"_

"Ahhhhhh but can YOU stand on YOUR head, Cheshire Caaaaat." She wobbled loopily again.

Sunni calmed down and focused her own energy. She warped away from Mika's hand and back to normal size, quickly pulling the lightsaber to her hand and thrusting at Mika's back. "AAAAH! !"

Mika finally snapped awake, the sword piercing her chest. Before Sunni's eyes, Mika dispersed into pink light and reformed behind her. "Yaaaaaawn. Sigh, Sunni, what were you doing?" She rubbed her eyes. "Were you trying to cut me again?"

Sunni was at a loss for words. She had no idea how Mika survived that just now… but it further goes to show her extreme talent. She switched off her lightsaber and banged her head against the tree. "NNNNN! WHY, CAN'T, I, BEAT, YOOOOU?" Tears started to leak. "Why can't I become as STRONG as you, Mom? Why can't I be TALENTED?"

Mika walked over with a warm smile, patting her daughter's head. "Sunni, there's more to life than just being really talented. And I keep telling you, you have to quit chasing after me and be your own person. People will like Sunni whether she's me or NOT me." She grinned. "And I rather she isn't me."

"Siiiigh… to tell the truth, Mom, there's more to it."

"Hm?"

"I kept trying not to get obsessed over being like you… but… everyone else in the KND had the same story. And…"

_Three years ago, when Sunni attended Arctic Training. Wearing a blindfold as she tried her best to sense the enemy dummies and destroy them. But no matter how hard she tried, she ended up killing a few friends. "Ally slain, ally slain, ally slain." The alarm kept ringing, putting a sense of doubt in her heart._

_"Nnn!" She looked over as a young, 6-year-old Cheren got wounded in the shoulder by a robot's laser. With a fierce look, he gripped his sword and ran to chop it to bits, but the robot was quick to dodge Cheren's predictable movements and kick him to the ground._

_"Come on, Bro, can't you swing better than that?" Aurora asked. "You're not becoming Supreme Leader with THAT arm."_

_"Well, who said I WANTED to be Supreme Leader?"_

_"You did… after hearing your mom's stories numerous times. Heck, why else are you a mama's boy?"_

_"I am not! Who wants to sit in a boring office all day, anyway?"_

_"Keep saying that, but it won't change a thing!" She ran away laughing._

_"Whaddoes THAT mean? Hey, COME BACK here, Aurora!" He chased her._

_Sunni knew that Cheren idolized his mother, too. Training hard with the sword in the hopes of following her footsteps. Seeing how much he failed… Sunni was glad at least _she_ wasn't like that._

_Then 2 years later, inauguration of the new Supreme Leader. Cheren Uno marched up on stage by his subordinates, Francis and Panini. "Boys and girls, it is with great honor I accept the office as your Supreme Leader. Numbuh 100,000's traitorous actions have struck us all, but it's important that we move on. I can't promise I'll be as great a leader as he was, but I will see that this organization remains prosperous. KIDS NEXT DOOR RULEZ!"_

_"KIDS NEXT DOOR RULEZ, SIR!"_

_As the stadium erupted in cheers, Sunni kept a slight smug look. How did the biggest screw-up in training get to be the former leader's favorite? …That deceiving little weasel._

_"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Sunni asked, in his office 6 months before the current time._

_"Numbuh 33-Arrow, it's come to my attention you and January-14 haven't been pulling your weight. When you first joined, you were appointed with our team of Telepathic Transmission psychicbenders to scan the Earth for any signs of danger. You two were assigned with the Philippines, but a lot of distresses were noticed days after they were given."_

_"Well, SHE GETS IN THE WAY OF MY CONCENTRATION!" she screamed._

_"I'm just saying, our files show your mom had the same job when she was a kid, and she was-"_

_"GHHHHH." His desk was crushed under her psychic._

_Cheren became stiff with fright. "Is there something… going on, Sunni?"_

_Sunni sighed, her psychic fading down. "How come YOU get to be a mama's boy and still be so great?"_

_"Uhhhh… 'scuse me?"_

_"Come on, I know you're trying to copy your mom, the 'greatest leader that ever lived', and now you saved the world TWICE from all-powerful superfreaks! How can YOU be so much like your mom when I CAN'T?"_

_"Oh… heheheheheh." He scratched his head. "Yeah, I was kinda takin' after my mom at first. But… you know, after all this… I really forgot about ever following her. It didn't become about being as great as my mom, it became about, well, saving the world from certain doom. And protecting my organization. …Maybe that's what's wrong with you."_

_"Don't you think I WANT to help out? ? But the reason I try to follow my mom so badly is 'cause I'm a lousy psychic. Better than Darcy at least, but, how can I help with my fullest potential WITHOUT being like her?"_

_"Hmmm… Well, I don't really care if you're like her or not. I just want you to help out more. But listen, Sunni… how 'bout I give you and Darcy some field missions? Get better control of your powers. And when the two of you become stronger, I want you to help us out on Moonbase."_

_"What kind of field missions? Tracking down worn-out villains and throwing them around with psychic? That'll help us train."_

_"Point taken. Alright then… I challenge you to a fight!"_

_"What?"_

_"You know what I can do, and I'm still nowhere near as tough as mine or your mom. So why don't you make it your goal to get as strong as me? Then if you're able to make me sweat, you'll know you've improved." He winked._

_"Are you implying you're tougher than me already?"_

_"Well… yeah." Cheren smirked. "Yeah I do. I don't see YOU goin' all god mode."_

_"WELL, NOT EVERYBODY GETS CRAZY WEAPONS!" She lit blue._

_"Doesn't matter." He flicked her nose. "They still beat your measly psychic."_

_"Grrrrr BRING IT! ! I'LL GET SO POWERFUL YOU WON'T SURVIVE A MEASLY PSYCHO SPHERE!"_

_"It's a deal then, Sunni." He held a hand out. "Come back when you think you can kick my butt!"_

_"…" Her psychic died down as she took his hand, still with a frowning look._

"…" Mika finished analyzing her daughter's story, "So you got yourself a rival, huh!" she grinned.

"No he's not, I just felt like satisfying him. Haven't really talked to him directly since… I don't think I've improved at all."

"Okay, Sunni, I'll help you train." Mika rubbed her hair. "But why don't you go take a nap first, you just got back from school and you're already trying to kill me. A strong mind needs rest!"

Still frowning, Sunni decided to head inside. "Yaaaaawn. I was still taking my nap." And with that, Mika sat back against the tree and returned to Dreamland.

**KND Moonbase**

Cheren hurriedly flew back to Moonbase and ran to his office. "You wanted to see me, Numbuh…"

"No-o way, you actually read _Dora_ Fanfiction?" Nebula laughed, viewing Cheren's computer.

"HEY, I'm learning… Spanish.. okay? ?" He slapped his hands over the screen. "Whaddyou want, Nebula?"

"To know why _somebody_ didn't warn me of some impending doom that threatens our very existence."

"Well, I was going through a lot of stuff… okay? I mean, it's not the kind of news people would like to hear."

"WELL, IT'S CERTAINLY NEWS THAT'S WORTH TALKING ABOUT!"

"Okay, okay, calm down…" Apparently, 'okay' was his word of the day.

"Siiiigh." She pinched her nasal bridge. "Well, the point is, I got the news to the other Supreme Leaders before I came, so now they're doing research on these Keys. I don't suppose you have any leads?"

"Well, I was kinda going to go down and ask Grim."

"That'll need to wait first. I've been wanting to set up another alliance for a while, with the Minish Kids Next Door. Arianna thinks they can be valuable producers and suppliers, and Vweeb wants 'em for their strength. I don't exactly recall Minish being durable, but better than none. Jesbi confirmed that the Minish Leader resides in the Tree of Beginning, so let's head down."

"Heh, the Tree of Beginning." Cheren smiled. "Reminds me of Mom's old story."

"Yes, except we're going a _lot_ earlier than they did. I just hope the Minish have a way to really help."

**Dickson Household**

After finishing his bath, Rupert scrappily wiped his hair dry and slipped his clothes on. "Gyah!" He jumped at seeing his dad just outside the bathroom. "Oh, Dad… you're probly still pretty mad at me for, uh…"

"Nah, it's alright, Son." Chad assured. "At this point, I've come to realize… you're too young for me to force all this exercise on you."

"Oh… Really?" This sounded a little out of the blue.

"Yes. And your mother has faith you'll know how to handle yourself in a real situation, so I'll have faith, too."

"Well… Great!" Rupert had a new positive aura. It sounded as though all the pain and suffering was finally through.

"Heheh. So while your mom is out shopping, I thought I'd take ya somewhere special."

"Really! Where?" He felt more excited by the minute.

Chad knelt down and knocked out his son with a Vulcan nerve pinch.

**Virginian Forest**

His son lay asleep for the whole drive to the deepest part of the forest. Chad finally parked, carried his son out, and set him on the ground. He quickly drove away before Rupert could awaken. "Ohhh… what happened. Dad? Where am I?" He searched around with great worry. He felt something in his shirt and discovered a folded note. "'Dear Son, I realized the only way to teach you to be stronger is to put you in a real situation. I have taken you to the farthest part of the forest I could find, and it'll be up to you to brave the dangers and find your way back home. Good luck, Sincerely Your'—AAAAH!" He crumpled the ball up and threw it against the tree.

"Stupid Dad, leaving me out in the forest." Rupert grumbled as he stomped through. "Just 'cause I'm not big and tough like HE is. If he was like me, I'd make HIM stay in the forest. What does he expect me to… Mm?" He spotted a lone, empty tree stump in a slight barren area. He approached the stump, and his curiosity peaked when he noticed the small hole in its center. Rupert crawled on the stump, and his wide eye peeked into the darkness within, seeing nothing. He sat up, still wondering what could've made this. He eyes perked when tiny, glittering sparkles suddenly floated up from the hole, and began to surround his form. "Wh-Whuh?" At that moment, he was swallowed in a cloud of green dust.

"WAAAaaaahhh!-" Before he knew it, Rupert was sent falling through a storm of the green dust, feeling as if he were suddenly miles above the earth. The world went dark as he fell into a hole, and went bouncing down a set of leaves. "Ooh—aah—aie!" He landed on his belly on a surface below, standing and rubbing his head. "What happened?…"

He exited through an archway in the wall, and came out of a giant tree stump. "Whoooooaaa!" his eyes and mouth grew into wide "O's". A jungle of grass lay in his wake, and towering over him, trees as high as skyscrapers, with trickles of sunlight seeping through the leaves. A plane-sized dragonfly fluttered overhead, amongst many other bugs that were unnaturally huge. "I'm…I'm tiny! !"

Rupert couldn't believe his eyes. This was the same forest, except now he was… he couldn't even measure. He wasn't good at math. However big an ant was, he was that tall. His head filled with more and more wonder as he stepped forward, viewing the amazing sights. "This is inCREDIBLE! That stump musta shrunk me… I'm big as an ant! I wonder how… GYAAAH! !" He unknowingly walked to a giant worm, and had a close-up view of its round mouth of endless jagged teeth. He dashed to the side, shivering with fear as the worm slithered by. "THAT was SCARY!" He got up and walked further ahead. "Just what HAPPENED to me, anyway? One minute that stump was glowing, and the next—AHH! !" He approached a hungry-looking praying mantis, backing away frightfully. "AHH!" He turned around, spotting a gargantuan green snake, and ran away. "GYAAAHH!" he spotted an even MORE terrifying gigantic spider on a web, running as fast as his tiny legs would allow.

"YEOW! !" He wasn't focused on his path, frightfully looking behind, so he bumped into someone and caused them both to fall. "Hey, watch it!" the Minish boy yelled, standing up, as Rupert did the same. "I'm trying to gather here!"

"Gather?" Rupert looked behind the Minish, and saw that a band of colorful creatures were mercilessly beating a bee on the ground. The creatures succeeded, and began to carry its unconscious body away. As Rupert watched, he couldn't help but think they looked familiar. He's _seen_ these creatures before. But where?… "What are those things?"

"Duh, they're Pikmin. What're you NEW in town?"

"Uhhh… kind of."

"Hey, wait, you're a human, aren't you?" The kid finally noticed Rupert more closely.

"Duh, I'm a human. And you're a chipmunk."

"Minish." he stated in annoyance.

"Whatever. So what's with the Pikmin?"

"Well, the Pikmin are our main means of defense or offense. We Minish are normally too miniscule against bugs or other gigantic creatures, so we use the Pikmin to fight." The boy walked away to follow his Pikmin, and Rupert joined.

"Use them to fight?" Rupert questioned. "But shouldn't you be fighting your _own_ battles? You can't use people to fight for you." Even though they were his father's words, not his, it felt weird using them.

"They don't do ALL the fighting. Besides, there are some things Pikmin can do that Minish can't. It's not about being lazy, it's about combining different strengths for a greater good. …Well, it's not TOTALLY lazy—what I mean is—ugh…" He was getting lost in his own words. "Look, I got stuff to do. If you wanna learn about Minish, talk to Sappo and Gibli. They're the Pikmin Instructors." With that, he hurried off.

Rupert only stood by and watched him leave. He passed through a few blades of grass to find an open field where Minish boys and girls were ordering their Pikmin companions around, having them attack bugs and carry stuff while the Minish blew whistles and made hand gestures. The way these Pikmin did their work for them... how they banded together to fight enemies for their masters… a smile appeared on Rupert's face. He had to get in on this. He hurried to the closest Minish girl and asked, "Excuse me. Where can I find Sappo and Gibli?"

**KND Museum of Artifacts**

"So as you can see, the Battle of Sir Wigmire's Mansion ended tragically for these 3rd Age operatives, and hundreds of children were forced into the most humiliating powdery wigs at that time." concluded Emily Garley, displaying the ancient image on the projector. "It miraculously sparked many high-class British accents, and fans became an invaluable want. Any questions?" She smiled eagerly.

Her fairly small audience conked out about an hour earlier. "Oh- huh? …Is it done? Come on, guys, let's go to the snackbar!" The awakened crowd was quick to pile out of there.

Emily lazily slapped the projector off and went to roll up the screen. "Yaaaaawn." Mike Strongarm yawned as he walked up to his friend. "That was amazing, Emmy…"

"Siiiigh. I don't know why I even bother."

"What, I liked the part where Sector E got trapped in the Cavern of Wiglings…"

"Kids just aren't interested in learning things anymore. I feel like an outcast. Before you know it, they'll be accepting me to a college."

"Someone's got a high opinion of herself." He smirked.

"Why not, I always smoke all the other kids in the science fair. Like when I invented that laser that divides peoples' atoms into smoke."

"Oh yeah. Did we ever catch those kids?"

"Yes, but one of them's missing his nose. But I guess things aren't so bad… 'cause my mom's taking me on a trip to see our relatives!" She spoke with a more excited tone. "Her dad's the boss of this big science company! Imagine being in the same place as all those smart guys!" Her mind became adrift in the clouds. "Talking about creating protoplasmic discombobulators, seeing if robots develop feelings when given human cells, or even solar-powered baseballs that absorb the kinetic energy of the bat and fly thousands of miles across the country… huhuhuhu. My skin cells react just thinking about it."

"A truuue, incomparable paradise." Mike said with a disbelieved sweatdrop.

"I'm already packed and everything! Borrowed this Infi-Cube from Sarah-Jane." She held up a blue cube with a hole at the top, and what seemed like a wavy dimension inside. "_Reeeeeal_ convenient when packing."

Mike curiously peeked inside the hole and- "Waaah-WAAAH!" was sucked inside.

"Whoops. Hehe. Careful 'round that thing, Mike." She pressed a button that shot Mike against the wall, with several other items.

"Owwww. Sheesh, if you can do that, why not sneak me with you?"

"He he he! You know I'd love to, but all the science and calculations and such might make your head explode."

"Point taken." He smiled coolly. "Oh well, 'least I tried."

"Anyway, tell Numbuh 192 he's in charge. I gotta go get ready!" She ran off ecstatically. "I hope my mom found my tri-dimensional notebook!"

Every time he spoke with her, Emily knew how to make Mike smile. Why did his best friend have to be a big and total nerd?

**KND Arctic Base**

A peaceful night over the coldest part of Antarctica. Things were calm, and no one would suspect danger is about to come. A pair of purple eyes blended with the water beneath the ice, swimming to the lowest part of the Arctic Base. (Play "Dark Clouds" from _Naruto: Shippuden_.)

While guarding the entrance to the prison wing, Aaron and Rhilliane Doblemitz noticed water started to leak in through a hole in the ice. "Yo." Aaron said.

"On it." replied Rhilliane, hurrying off.

Aaron approached the hole curiously, and watched the water reform into a familiar white-haired teen with sharp teeth. "This place isn't very stable, is it?" Suigetsu smirked.

Aaron shot him with his S.C.A.M.P.P., but the laser merely phased through Suigetsu's liquid body as he launched a Water Fist and sent Aaron across the room. Rhilliane arrived with another guard, gasping at this, and when they noticed Suigetsu, the guard launched an ice beam. Suigetsu easily grabbed and melted the ice to water, sending it back at the bender. "So there're more benders in the KND than I thought."

Rhilliane furiously tried to shoot him, but Suigetsu grabbed the ground and melted a path of ice, straight to Rhilliane and letting the boy sink. Afterwards Suigetsu froze him solid before heading to the prison wing. He sliced open the doors and calmly marched down, observing the many prison cells upon the walls. He forced his hand through the ice ground and channeled a powerful surge of energy. The prison wing trembled before the icy walls within the cells melted into many waterfalls, and the cells collapsed haphazardly. Suigetsu stretched the walls further beyond the cells, allowing the prisoners to move out. "Okay, guys, you can come out."

A particular band of Teen Ninjas wobbled dizzily out of their cells. "Uuugh. I thought I sensed an incredible amount of Water Chi. It was just you, Suigetsu." said a girl with blood-red hair, red eyes, glasses, and striped prison garb.

_Name: Red-Eyed Karin_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Sensory Teen Ninja_

_Ability: Observation X-ray Haki_

"Nice to see you, too, Kar. Did my presence give you the chills?"

"LIKE I'D EVER BE CHILLY FOR YOU!"

"Whatever…" followed a dark-clothed teen with sunglasses, short brownish-blond hair, and a goatee. "But I've been in stiffer situations." He stretched his arms.

_Name: Gage Davidson_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Teen Ninja Computer Expert_

_Ability: Digital Puppetry_

A girl with smooth bluish-black hair, white fur coat, metal boots, and white eyes with pale skin shortly approached them. "It's amazing a bunch of kids can handle this cold. But then again, they'll do anything for snow days."

_Name: Ashei Winters_

_Race: Human (Eskimo)_

_Occupation: Teen Ninja animal trainer._

_Ability: Snow-beast Taming_

_"Hold it right there!"_ A swarm of KND guards were charging in.

Karin fixed her glasses and observed them. "Four of them are waterbenders, and three shadows are creeping on the ceiling."

"Ashei!" Suigetsu tossed her a horn, then used bending to make a hole in the ice. The Eskimo girl stuck her horn in the water and blew a sound that echoed for miles beneath the waves.

_"RAAAAH!"_ A seasnake suddenly emerged right beneath her as she stood firmly on its head and made it shoot ice darts at the guards. Meanwhile, Suigetsu dove in the hole and maneuvered around the base's walls, leaking into a storage room. He grabbed a laptop, bottle of lotion, and a Spanish guitar before throwing them in a sack and forming a water tunnel back to the prison wing. He tossed the laptop to Gage, lotion to a blonde-haired teen, and guitar to a Hispanic teen.

"This didn't get wet, did it?" Gage questioned.

"No, just use it!"

"Okay." Gage flipped it open, logged on to the Wi-Fi, and opened Flash. After some quick adjustments, a 2-dimensional ninja emerged from the computer and flipped to the guards, swiftly knocking them out as if he were real.

"Have a load of THIS, boys!" exclaimed the blonde teen, throwing off her prison wear. "TA-DAAAA!" She made a pretty pose in a red bikini.

_Name: Susanne Suave_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Teen Ninja gymnast_

_Ability: Slippery Sleek Skin_

"WHOOOAA! SO PRETTY!" exclaimed the male operatives with heart eyes.

"That's not all!" Susanne sprayed herself with the lotion, making her skin appear very glossy. She glided across the ice on a single foot, swirling around and kicking the guards out with the other. They tried to grab her, but she slipped from their grip and skied across the wall.

"Okay, keep them busy, Rodrigo." Suigetsu ordered.

The Hispanic teen readied to play his guitar.

_Name: Rodrigo __Añorga_

_Race: Human (Mexican)_

_Occupation: Teen Ninja Musician_

_Ability: Hypnotic tunes_

Rodrigo began to play a peaceful, harmonic tune on his guitar. The tension eased within the wing as the operatives felt no sense or readiness to fight, merely swaying their heads to the rhythm. It was a tune that made them lost in thought.

"Great, just keep them there." Suigetsu said. "Come on, there's one more we gotta save." The rest of them hurried down the hall and reached the deepest part of the Arctic Prison. Suigetsu sliced down the doors, breaching the small room with a single cell. "There he is. Let's-"

"HYAH!" Marcus Drilovsky dropped from the ceiling and punched the Fishboy in the face, sending him across the hall. The teen stood firmly and glared at the others with balled fists.

"EYAAAH!" Karin screamed. "It's Marcus Drilovsky, the Armament user! Ooo-o-o-o-h-h-h, his Haki is so stro-o-o-o-ong." She began to sweat, face red as his sheer, sexy power. "How's it goin', Marcy, hahaha-a-a."

"You freaks aren't getting any farther." He stated.

But Susanne swiftly snatched the keys on his waist and flipped over, Marcus unable to grab her sleek leg as it slipped from his grasp. She quickly unlocked the cell and pulled it open. "Abram, let's go!" Marcus punched her away with Armament.

_"No."_

Suigetsu slithered below the ice beneath Marcus and pulled him in a hole, his upper half reforming. "Dude, I didn't risk my neck breaking in here just so you-"

_"I told you I'm not going. I'll stay here as long as it takes."_

"Dude, why you still hung up on these guys, they're doomed, anyway." Gage stated.

_"I don't care. No matter what happens, I will keep my promise to him!"_ A pair of piercing blue eyes glared at them.

"EEYAH!" Karin kicked the back of Suigetsu's head, making it watery for a few seconds. "I TOLD you we shoulda ditched him!"

Susanne slipped away from Marcus, who was breaking from Suigetsu's ice prison. "Hmph. To think you still matter to him." Suigetsu huffed. "Let's go."

They decided to leave the prisoner and return to Rodrigo. "Time to go, Guitar Boy!" Suigetsu said rushedly. (End song.)

With a fierce guitar strum, he said, _"Bueno."_ He quickly strummed his instrument as the gang hurried out of the base. Once outside, a man-sized sombrero saucer came down from the sky as the teens got in, the sombrero spinning quickly as it flew back to the sky, Rodrigo's tunes echoing in the distance.

As the wind brushed their hair, soaring the sombrero across the Arctic air, Gage and Ashei were engaged in a deep, long kiss. Suigetsu glanced at this with a look of annoyance. "Seriously? Already?"

Back within the cell, the prisoner named Abram looked in thought. _Father… I still want to believe… there's a chance for them. If your predecessors… accomplished so much… maybe mine can… too._

**Gallagher Gymnasium**

Once the school day was over, the First Grade and Fourth Grade teams gathered in the gym, where hundreds of blocks lay scattered around both sides. Queen Shelly's cousins carried their leader to the center of her pile and set her down, smirking in the direction of her rival. Jessie Sidney blew a stream of bubbles in his path as he marched to the center of his blocks, smirking at his older rival. Jessie glanced at Joey Beatles (Kuki/Wally's son), who winked and thumbs-upped. It was time for Jessie to put his block-building lessons to the test.

"BOYYYYS and girls!" announced Sandy Sidney (not to be confused with Shelly's father). "Welcome to the final round of the annual Presidents' Block-Building Battle Royale! Today, our two finalists finally face off, and the victor will take home the crown! Whooo will it be? The beach-hogger, Shelly Johnson?"

"BOOOOO!" moaned the first-graders.

"Or potty-mouth Jessie Sidney!"

"YAAAAAY!"

"During which, our two reporters, Zach and Dip, will be offering play-by-play! Oooon your mark!" The two presidents narrowed their eyes on each other. "Geeet set." Their hands slowly reached for the first block. "GO! !"

"Aaaaand they're off!" Reporter Zach announced. "What a lovely day for a block-building, eh Dip?"

"You betcha, Zach!" Dip agreed. "With near-perfect precision, Jessie's throwing stacks together left-and-right, while astonishingly, Shelly insisted on doing this whole contest, BLINDFOLDED!" Indeed, Shelly snapped her fingers, and her knights wrapped a blindfold around her eyes. "How she does it, Zach, I do not know."

"There can be no perfect time to stay for an after-school activity."

"Say, Zach, you think we'll get replaced by those Nick and Zach guys again?"

"I am almost certain they're dead, Dip."

"Let's only hope so, Zach."

Jessie dashed across his field of blocks and stylishly threw 'em onto each other, and his model of Goofy Goober's was nearly complete. Meanwhile, Shelly was constructing her own blockcastle, her vision completely blind. The contest lasted for several minutes, and almost no block was left unused. "They're neck-n-neck, Dip, but it seems like Shelly has this match-"

"WWWWUH-OH! Looks like we got an uncounted block, Zach!" Shelly flinched, realizing the discarded block several meters from her castle. "But can she reach on time before Jessie puts the last touch on Goober's hat?" She sensed Jessie climbing up his structure, seconds from putting the final block on the block-made Goober statue.

The beach princess merely smirked, approaching the block with forceful stomps of her feet. She added more force to the third stomp, and before he knew it, Jessie's block fort crumbled beneath him. "WHOOOA!"

"AND what an INCREDIBLE stroke of rotten luck!" Zach exclaimed. "Just like all others before him, Jessie's block fort has miraculously FALLEN!"

"Shelly must have luck of the Irish!" Dip said. "'Cause HER match is pretty much GREEN." And just like that, Shelly tossed the last block onto her fort with no trouble.

"YAAAAAAAY!" The fourth-graders cheered for their queen.

Sandy looked at her brother with sympathy, but Jessie wore a grumpy face and stomped away. "Hmph… that DUMMY." Timmy Gilligan huffed.

"YEAH! What a cheater!" Hikari agreed.

"She stomped the floor on purpose. She must've set it up so HER fort didn't fall."

"But how did she build it without seeing?"

"Holes in the blindfold? I'm not even sure if I wanna go to the _beach_ anymore…"

"Aww, let's go, Timmy. We'll build our OWN sandcastle, and dedicate it to Jessie!"

"Yeah! And we'll write 'Shelly Sucks'!"

"YAAAY!" The duo excitedly ran off to do so.

**Minish World; Sappo and Gibli's treehouse**

Sappo and Gibli were in a small living room, feeding bits of nectar to Pikmin. They heard their door open, and turned to see a dark-pink-dressed Minish walk in. "Um, Instructors… someone wants to learn how to use Pikmin."

"Ooooh, a new operative?" Gibli asked hopefully.

"Um, I dunno. Actually it's… a human."

"Huff, huff…" Rupert made it up the stairs after much struggle. "Why do you ant people have to live so high."

"A human? ?" Sappo jumped. "What's a human doing here?"

"Not my problem." The Minish girl walked away.

"So you're Sappy and Chibi?" Rupert asked.

"Not exactly." Sappo said with disbelief.

"Well, come on! I wanna learn how to use these Pikmin, too!"

"That's coming out of nowhere. I mean, humans don't usually wander into our world at… our size."

"Yeah, but my cousin Sally did! I saw HER with the Pikmin 6 months ago!"

"Ohhh! One of Sector W!" Gibli remembered.

"So one of the boys at the park was her cousin?" Sappo asked.

"AHA! You DO know her!" Rupert pointed.

"But how would he've gotten in our world, anyway? You need a Minish to activate the portals."

"I just got sucked into your tree-stump. After my stupid DAD left me in the woods…" He folded his arms.

The twins exchanged confused glances. "Wait, let us look at something." Sappo said, the two leading Rupert to another room.

Inside was a garage of many small, colorful pods, each with three legs and flower propellers. The twins approached a particular one and blew a whistle to signal all the Pikmin down. "Try this." Sappo tossed Rupert the whistle. The human stared at it curiously and blew. Already, the Pikmin gathered up around him. "Aha…" Sappo observed. "So you are related. The Pikmin in this storage are only loyal to whoever plucked them, and whatever teammates that person was with."

"But if someone were related to a Pikmin master, the Pikmin recognize their DNA and follow their whistle!" Gibli bounced.

"So these were all Cousin Sally's Pikmin?" Rupert asked.

"Hers and her friends', yeah." Sappo confirmed. "But with this many, you won't have a hard time starting training. Wanna still learn?"

"YEAH! !"

"Heh heh heh. Then let's go down. Training course is just below." The Minish led Rupert outside and down the tree, his Pikmin following. (Play "The Impact Site" from _Pikmin_.)

_Stage 2: Pikmin Training Course_

_Mission: Learn the ways of the Pikmin!_

"Well, let's start with the basics." Sappo began. "These are the Pikmin, duh. The Pikmin are our main means of combat and labor. We use them to carry things, fight, the stuff." Sappo reached over and held a single Red Pikmin by the antenna. "Pikmin are light enough to carry. To set them on a task, we mostly throw them." He threw the Pikmin onto a flower with a red pellet with a '1' on it, knocking the pellet down. Rupert watched as the Pikmin carried the pellet away. "What I just hit was a Pellet Posy. They're a common thing in the Minish World, and they're used to make more Pikmin. They take it to their ship; the Onion, and let it get absorbed." The Pikmin brought the pellet to a small pod with a flower propeller. The pellet was sucked inside, and two Pikmin seeds came out.

"The number on the pellet says how many Pikmin are needed to carry it, and also how many Pikmin it'll produce. Also, any colored Pikmin can carry any pellet, but if the Onion absorbs a pellet of the same color, it'll make more. And even though they're small, the Pikmin are strong enough to lift anything. But depending on the weight of the object – like the pellets – it'll take more. Anyway… let us show you the combat."

Gibli led her Pikmin to a large, red, white-spotted creature. She blew her whistle and sent all the Pikmin to attack and knock it out. "That was a Bulborb." continued Sappo. "You'll see a lot of them. Anyway, it's best to send as many Pikmin as you need to in a battle. They work stronger in bunches, and you'll need a lot for taking down big enemies. If the enemies knock your Pikmin down, call them back before they get eaten." He held up his whistle. "We control Pikmin using these whistles. After we throw them or send them to do a task, they're no longer in our group. So we blow these whistles to summon them back. We also use them to send whole bunches to attack an enemy or grab an item."

Rupert watched the Pikmin carry the Bulborb to their Onion and sprout more Pikmin. "Enemies make more Pikmin, too, so that's why it's good to knock 'em outta the way. Anyway, ya might notice some have flowers on their heads. The Pikmin's favorite food is nectar. You find nectar in eggs or something, and when they eat it, their flowers bloom, and they get stronger. They also bloom if you don't pluck them from the ground."

"But what about their colors?" Rupert asked.

"Well, that's the next step!" Gibli jumped. "Each colored Pikmin has a special ability or two. Red Pikmin are fire resistant, and they're the best in combat. Blue Pikmin can swim in water, and breathe in it. Yellow Pikmin are electric-proof, and can be used as batteries. They also throw the highest. Pink Pikmin have wings and fly, and can go just about anywhere! White Pikmin can run really fast, and they're poisonous: if enemies eat them, they'll be knocked out, and White Pikmin can also sense things better, like buried treasure. There's other types, too, but you'll learn on the way!"

"So do the training course!" Sappo encouraged. "Sally's friends whipped up 12 Red Pikmin, 7 Yellow Pikmin, 15 Blue ones, 15 Pink, and 11 White, making 60 total. Oh, but you can only have 100 on the field, other Pikmin will just be stored in the Onion. So good luck, and try to whip up a lot!"

There was a bit more complexity to this Pikmin thing than Rupert thought. But it was still something worth trying out. He hoped he would learn on the way. He started by summoning each of the Pikmin from their Onions, then having some Reds and Yellows take down some Posies, leading to 17 Reds and 12 Yellows. He got all the Pikmin together and proceeded to a large cardboard box that required 20 Pikmin to push. He was able to do so easily with more than enough Pikmin, but the box ended up blocking another path, only allowing Rupert access to a small, narrow enclosing. But this enclosing had Pink Pellet Posies, so he sent the Wing Pikmin to collect and bring them to their Onion.

This created 15 Wings, making 30 of them, with 85 total Pikmin. The Wings could fly over the box and push it back, this time having it out of the way completely. He led his Pikmin to a more open yard where Dwarf Bulborbs roamed, and the creatures were easy to defeat with a single hit to the head. They came to a more menacing Large Bulborb, but it was fast asleep. Rupert went behind and hurriedly threw his Pikmin onto it, but his lack of coordination caused him to miss a few throws. Regardless, they were able to knock the Bulborb out before it could swallow any, and the creature coughed a huge strawberry (Sunseed Berry) from its stomach. Rupert had 6 Wing Pikmin take it back, then 10 Whites take the Bulborb.

Rupert noticed another route on a high ledge, much too high to climb. But lain before it was a giant discarded clipboard, so he had Wing Pikmin lift the clip end up and lay it on the ledge, creating a hill for his other Pikmin to go up. Across a small field was a rock wall, and when he sent his Pikmin to attack it, they couldn't make a dent. He decided to return to the previous yard, and hurried back to get his other Pikmin; the Bulborb led to 21 total White Pikmin, 95 total. He guided them further across the yard, where a sand gate blocked the next area, so he sent a group of Pikmin to work on it. Meanwhile, he noticed a particular electric mushroom on a high foothold, and figured that was a job for the Yellows.

He threw all 12 Yellows onto the platform to carry the Volt Shroom (Risky Defender) to the Onions, then checked up on his other Pikmin who had finished breaking the gate. It led them to a pool area where Skeeterskate (3-legged insects with big water bubbles) glided across the surface, aiming to shoot the Pikmin with waterballs. Rupert first had the Blues take out the bugs, then began to find a way to help the other Pikmin cross the pool. A broken bridge started from their shore, and a pile of parts were in the pool. He had the Blues bring those parts to the bridge, but it still didn't add up enough. When he swam across to the other shore, he noticed another pile of parts on a high ledge. He was able to guide his Wing Pikmin over the pool and had them work on it.

While they did so, Rupert returned to get his 12 Yellow Pikmin, and had them take all the fallen Dwarf Bulborbs to produce more. The Wings finished fixing the bridge, so Rupert gathered the other Pikmin up and crossed to the other shore. A poisoned gate blocked the next path, so it was up to the White Pikmin. Once they finished tearing it, Rupert guided the Pikmin up a huge, spirally path that led up a tree. At the path's end, a grouping of acorns lay before the cave of a snoozing squirrel. He knew the squirrel would be on their tail the minute they grabbed the acorns. But recalling Sappo and Gibli's explanation, White Pikmin were the fastest, so he would trust them for this task. He hid the other Pikmin in a small enclosing and sent the Whites to grab the 12 acorns (only one had to carry each). Rupert hid back in the enclosing as the squirrel awakened and dashed after the Pikmin, but the Whites hurried away successfully.

Rupert led the others out and noticed the squirrel's cave had Bomb Rocks. There were 7, so Rupert had 7 Reds carry them. They made their way back to the yard and to the field where the rock gate was. It took 3 bombs to destroy the gate and open way to a new area. He first returned to the Onions to get his 12 Whites and 17 Yellows, now 100 in his group. They ventured to the new path, a wide road with many tree root slopes. There were holes in the trees where spiders called Arachnodes protected with webs. Rupert could easily throw Pikmin onto the spiders and knock them out, revealing nectar and pellets inside, but one particular web had its spider on the opposite end, and a berry inside. When Rupert threw Pikmin on, they only got stuck, so Rupert called them down before the spider could eat. He decided to leave that spider 'til he figured out a solution.

They reached another yard occupied by four Pyroclasmic Slooches, fiery slugs. Rupert used his 4 remaining Bomb Rocks to take out the slugs, then had the Reds take them back as prizes. In one of the corners, Rupert noticed a discarded bag of Flamin' Hots, but when Rupert sent his Pikmin to take the treats, they ended up getting burned. Rupert blew the whistle to put out the flames (MAGIC!) and figured he would have to wait for his Red Pikmin. For now, he led his Pikmin up a fairly steep hill, overlooking a vast field at the top, miles below their cliff.

In the distance was a tremendous, peaceful, roaming deer, who seemed to wander around a particular area. Rupert blew his whistle, making the animal direct its attention over. It calmly stepped toward Rupert, looming its head down, the boy a little intimidated by its size. But it seemed to have no evil intentions, placing its nose beside the tinies' cliff. Rupert led his Pikmin onto the creature's head, and the deer began to roam around again. It passed by several trees with fruits, first one with an apple hanging from a branch, so he sent his Wing Pikmin to take it. He then passed a tree with a tunnel-like plant with water inside, so he quickly tossed all his Blue Pikmin in before the deer passed. They passed through the tunnel on their own and started to carry a small banana bud (Developing Greatness). They were forced to walk off that ledge to the field below, but there was apparently a slope leading back to the slugs' field.

They came to the tree with the next fruit, a small bundle of green grapes (Dawn Pustules), but the ledge was much lower than their point atop the deer. Rupert tossed all his White Pikmin down, each grabbing one grape, but since they couldn't get back up, they rushed around a spiral path to a mini spring pad the Minish likely placed. The pad flung them to a path around another tree, and they kept up and bounced a spring pad to a third tree, and at the top of its path was a plank that dropped them back onto the deer's head, right on time. When the deer finally made the full loop, Rupert and the Pikmin hopped off, and the Whites carried the grapes back. 'Course, they couldn't get all the grapes, but they would hop back on the deer on their own, make the loop, and go up the paths again. Rupert thanked _Pikmin 3_ for that mechanic.

He went back to grab his 17 Red Pikmin (the slugs produced 8, making 25 total, but he couldn't use them now), then hurried to the Flamin' Hots to make the Reds collect them. Meanwhile, Rupert brought his Blue Pikmin to the water pool and had them take the three Skeeterskates, which all produced 6 Blues, making 13. To further populate them, he had the Blues take the fallen Arachnodes on the tree path, leading to 22 Blues. Once all the Pikmin were finished with their tasks, Rupert led them all down to the field where the giant deer roamed. They were careful to avoid its stomping hooves, but the field seemed pretty barren. However, something seemed to be attracting the White Pikmin, so Rupert followed where they pointed, and they began to dig up buried treasure in one of the deer's hoofprints. They dug up a buried quarter (Artists' Gems) and carried it back to the Onions.

With that, Rupert brought the rest of his Pikmin to another path across the deer's plain, bringing them to a 'Finish' line where Sappo and Gibli waited. He approached the twin instructors to complete the stage.

_Stage Progress: Red Pikmin: 25. Yellow Pikmin: 24. Blue Pikmin: 22. Pink Pikmin: 30. White Pikmin: 21. Total: 122._

(End song.)

"Great JOB!" Gibli jumped.

"You're a natural!" Sappo bounced.

"Eh heh heh heh…" No one ever told Rupert he was good at something. "It was pretty easy, really…"

"Well DOY, it's only your first level!" Gibli beamed.

"Um, first level?"

"What she means is, now that you're pretty used to them, it's time to train with the Pikmin in a more dangerous environment. A human environment, so to speak. But may I ask… why're you suddenly so into Pikmin, anyway?"

"Hmmmm… I'm not sure, really." Rupert scratched his head. "Maybe 'cause of how helpful they are. …Hey, if you're talking about human environments, I know where we could go! In fact, is it okay if I bring some friends?"

"Friends? Like who?"

"I'll explain later. Let's go!" The trio began the walk back to the Onions.

**Dickson Household**

_"-and Ish Taylor rushes in for another touchdown, but the Blitzers won't let him-"_ Chad couldn't be in a better mood to watch football. The front door creaked open as Emily walked in with bags of groceries. "Boy, traffic is so much better when you can just fly over it. Hey, where's Rupert, I got 'im those cheese muffins he likes."

"In the deepest part of the Virginian Forest."

"WHAT? ! ?" The groceries plopped on the ground.

_"Wuh-oh. Seems we're getting some bad weather, Chip."_ The TV announcer continued.

"I realized you were right, Em. The only way to teach him real strength is to put him in real danger. So I took him to the deepest part of the woods so he'll have to find his way back. It may take a few hours, but if you have faith in him, I will t- MMM!" Emily's foot was then planted on his crotch.

"Well, _I_ have faith you're going to drive out there and bring him home, if you don't wanna go to your friends with a new feminine voice."

"Urk… can I have a Scottish voice?" he grinned.

**"GO GET OUR SON! !"**

"Yaaa okay, okay!"

**Airline Gilligan**

A shipment of passengers were on the flight to Düssenheim, Germany, among them Kimberly and Emily (not to be confused with Rupert's mom :P). The latter had a box of Nerds, her favorite candy, as she poured some onto her open palm and started to eat. She stared at the fluffy clouds past the window; which brought up her question on Nimbis' opinions on airplanes. Her mind was still adrift… going to a place where a lot of smart guys were. Guys who were smart like her… or maybe more. She was nervous about sounding too stupid to them. Or maybe they would sound stupid to her. She kinda hoped it was the latter. When the clouds cleared away for a moment, Emily glanced down, mouth agape.

A band of bikers zipped across the grassland, each in a set position so they spelled the words _GOOD LUCK, EM!_ She pulled out her binoculars and saw the purple dot leading the bikers was Mike Strongarm, who seemed to sense his friend looking at him as he looked up and winked at her window.

Emily felt her heart race, her cheeks red as sweat dripped down. She was sure glad Mike wasn't up there to see that. It was hard enough talking to him without increasing in temperature, but this whole scenario made it hard to breathe. After calming down, Emily pressed her face to the window and waved. Once again sensing this, Mike gave a wink and thumbs-up. The bikers couldn't follow long before the plane soared past the shore, across the blue sea. Mike watched until the plane was beyond the horizon. He really hoped she would have a fun trip.

* * *

><p><strong>And believe me, she will. ;P So introduces, one of my favorite parts of the story, Pikmin levels. I'm really looking forward to writing those 'cause, <em>Pikmin<em> is such a fun series, and really the main point of these Pikmin levels is to have a break from most of the craziness that happens later. Also, Suigetsu and Karin are from _Naruto_, Ashei's from _Twilight Princess_, and those other Teens are OCs with a few misc. origins. So next time, the second Pikmin level, Emily's first level, and a few other things, too. ;I Well-p, see you then.**


	4. An Unpleasant Surprise

**Guess who started school.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Ape Escape on the Loose! A Crazy Day in <em>****_Düssenheim!_**

**Virginian Forest**

Chad had driven all the way back to the precise spot he dropped Rupert. He began to wander the forest in search of his son. "HELLOOOO? RUPERT? I'm here to pick you uuuuuup. It's not a trick this time, your mom's threatening me to bring you baaaaack. 'Cause as you will grow up to see, women have very different views on parenting."

The only sounds were the winds rustling the leaves and echoing chirps of birds. He skimmed the ground for possible footprints, but all he found was a series of peculiar tiny paths, probably meant for ants. He wondered what could've carved such convenient roadways. He heard light footsteps and looked ahead, seeing a loan deer wandering a small, round area, walking nonstop in many loops. He approached the deer and asked, "Looking for something?"

The deer looked at him quickly before running away. Chad examined the trees around the area, and found a set of three of them had tiny paths spiraling around them. He really wanted to look more into these… but he supposed Rupert came first. His cellphone rang, so he answered his wife. "Hello?"

_"So did you find him?"_

"I can't find him anywhere."

_"What? !"_

"Relax, Em, he probably ended up finding his way home after all, you're such a worry-wart."

_"Or MAYBE he wandered into a bear's stomach or some maniac's secret CABIN! 'CAUSE I DON'T SEE HIM HERE!"_

"Well, there's always the chance he decided to wander off to Cleveland. He'd definitely choose playing with Timmy and Hikari than working out."

_"Ugh, fine, drive down there to see if he is. I'm gonna be down there soon with Vi and Scar, they'll be able to help track him just in case. You BETTER hope he's alright, Chad."_ She hung up.

Chad sighed and returned to his car. Even if Rupert was in some kind of danger… he would want him to handle it himself.

**Goofy Goober's**

'Twas a joyous time at Goofy Goober's, the ice creamy restaurant where no kid could be sad. Adults, maybe, since they had to drag their kids here and put up with the obnoxious noise, but that's mainly why they took the dark bar in the corner. A more peaceful area where kids would deem too boring to hang out. But as it turned, one kid chose to sit there.

Jessie Sidney guzzled down another shake, the strawberry substance spread around his mouth. There were bags under his dizzy dark eyes, and his hair was a mess. "'ey, MAC, gimme another'n… BUUUURP."

"Err, Dear Boy, I zink you've had too much."

"MMmmm…" he waved an arm, "I think I know my own damn body."

"THERE you are, Jessie!" his sister yelled, walking in to sit by him. "I thought I'd find you here."

"Er, and will you be paying his bill, Miss?" Mac asked.

"I'm too young to carry such an allowance." she said with adorable eyes.

"Oui-oui." And he proceeded to get more shake.

"Jessie, I don't think drowning yourself in ice cream is going to solve anything. So Shelly beat you again, what's the big deal?"

"Shelly always *** beats me, tha'sa problem… her and her lousy fourth-graders… how'm I suppose to be the First Grade President if I, mmmm-BUURP can't even stack a few, eh, blocks." He mumbled drunkly.

"Well, being older makes them more experienced, I guess."

"Experience, shmerience… when I took this job, I-ha wanted ta…ta leader the First Grades to glory, ya know… I-ha wanted ta SHOW all those big kids… we got ta stuff. But those…those DUMBASS fourth-graders, think they know it all… and SHELLY… with her cape and, big feet and, big older cousins… she thin' she queen o' the school, well you know what **I** SAY… BUUUURP."

"Huhuhu HEY, kids! To celebrate 28 years of Goober-TAAASTIC fun, that one peanut that makes the elephants MAD: GOOOFY GOOBEEER!"

But when the curtains opened and the dancing peanut danced out, Jessie's vision faltered. The world became blurry, and that smiling, goofy peanut was the center of attention. _"Oh, I'M a Goofy Goober, yeah! YOU'RE a Goofy Goober, …"_

A squiggly smile spread across Jessie's face. Entranced by that hypnotic singing, Jessie couldn't help but wobble forward. It wasn't long before he lost consciousness. (Play Goofy Goober's theme from the _Spongebob Movie_ Game.)

_Stage 3: Goofy Goober's… sort of_

_Mission: Wander around aimlessly._

Jessie aimlessly wandered the suddenly-barren restaurant and smashed many tables and chairs. He ran up on stage and followed the route behind, sending Bubble Torpedoes at Gooberlings, which were the same happy, goofy-faced peanuts as the original, except they were trying to beat him with mops. He came to gaps in the road that required him to double-jump, waving his bubble wand down for an extra boost, then reached a large gap with a large button. He jumped and blew bubble feet over his own to do a Ground Pound, pushing the switch to make a bounce platform.

After crossing the gap, Jessie appeared in an expansive, factory-like chamber with giant ice creams and candies. A series of giant, colorful ice creams wobbled back and forth on their cones, so Jessie was careful when hopping across them. He reached a safe platform and then had to cross giant, tilting Wonka Bars, but waiting on the following platform was a Cream-Cream, a Gooberling that shot ice cream. It did so to destroy Jessie's Bubble Torpedoes, so the boy was forced to avoid them across the unbalanced platforms and knock the enemy out normally.

Following that was a series of floating platforms moving toward him and away at quick speeds, each too high to jump. When the first one returned, Jessie performed a Headbash (in which he wore a bubble Viking helmet) to shoot up higher and land on it, doing the same with the others with careful timing, lest he fall to the chocolaty chasm. The third, highest platform brought him to a safe walkway along the side of the room (and above the entrance), which had a port-o-potty at the end. Jessie stepped inside, and, however this mechanic worked, turned into Sandy.

Using her lasso, she swung a series of hooks to reach a foothold across the chasm, leading to a wide hallway. Floating robots called Chucks drew torpedoes and hurled 'em at Sandy, but she easily caught the torpedoes in her lasso and threw them back. Sandy arrived at a room with another chocolate creek, having to first spin her jump-rope like a helicopter to glide to a far, low platform. The next platform was much higher, but a peg was on it for her to catch with her rope and pull herself up.

From there, a series of scattered platforms with little bobble targets led to a path in a far right corner, and Sandy had to lash her ropes quickly to haul herself across them. Not a difficult hazard as she reached the next hall easily. A Gooberling on a floating pod skimmed the hall for intruders, and there was nothing to hide behind within his laser's range. There were plenty of pegs around the floor and walls, with only one close to the next, intending a certain order. Sandy pulled herself to each of them at a quick speed, the Gooberling unable to keep up with its laser before Sandy wrapped her rope around its turret, and pulled the pod to pieces.

The hall led her to a giant freezer chamber with many giant ice cream boxes. Once again, many frosty pegs were spread around, along with several pitfalls, and a Chuck floated over the room and threatened to blow Sandy into the chasms. She had to latch the pegs and pull herself over, but the slippery floor forced her to pass the pegs and keep skiing 'til she latched another and switched direction. That would be dangerous with the many pits, so she first skied across the narrow path, pulled herself left, then right to ski across a narrow path on the side, two more rights to ski up a slope that flew her onto the giant ice creams. She kept the speed going and pulled herself to pegs that flew her up ramps, until she skied into an icy tunnel. The speed was still going as she pulled herself around loops and zigzaggy paths, avoiding frosty water, until her skiing finally led her into a port-o-potty.

Having switched back to Jessie, the boy stepped down a small slope and began to jump Bouncemallows across a vast chocolate lake. He bounced to one of many islands where, after knocking out some Gooberlings, pressed a switch that made a bounce platform appear over the lake, aimed at an angle. Another spring on this island could bounce him to it, but when he did so, the spring sent him right back. He saw there was a slot on the island spring's back, and he could stick his wand into it to turn and aim at other islands. He bounced to an island on the left, having to simply Headbash a switch above him, activating another floating spring.

Jessie knocked out the Goobers on that island quickly before bouncing to the first island, but realized the Goobers there previously had returned. After knocking them out, he saw the ones on the second island respawn, and realized they were coming from a Duplicatotron in the hall he would eventually get to. He aimed the spring at another island across the room, where he had to deal with G-Loves, purple and green saucers that spun around, swinging many gloved hands. He bested them just by Ground Pounding, then did the same to press a switch, revealing another floating platform.

He returned to the first island (knocking out the Gooberlings again), but the last island was in a further corner, too far for the spring to reach. However, he returned to the second island, and realized another spring sat atop a stone pole. Behind that pole was a smaller spring which bounced him up to it, then was bounced to that last island. He had to stand on a switch that opened a gate protecting the last switch, across the chocolate lake with a series of rising and sinking platforms leading to it. He spun his wand and rolled a Bubble Bowl when the platforms rose in a perfect order, pressing the switch and making the last floating spring appear. He returned to the first island, aimed the spring at the first floating one, and let each bounce him to the next, 'til he landed at the cave's base.

He took out the Duplicatotron and proceeded through the cave that led to an outside land, fields of candies, pink skies, and ice cream mountains. Sandy was there to help him, holding on as she swung hooks from giant ice creams that fell afterward, making it to the top of a huge, ice cream slide. They zipped down at fast speed, ramming any Gooberlings in the way and jumping ramps to score extra points. They split up as Jessie took a higher route into a cave, jumping some java pits 'til he was outside again, sliding across a narrow path over the lower slide, where Sandy was.

At the end of the narrow slide, he grabbed a discarded sock (sound familiar?) and dropped down to rejoin Sandy. They once again split up on a fork leading into a mountain, where inside was a series of slides leading many directions, far too many to see in one go. Jessie slid to a large chasm where he had to jump a trio of bounce pads, each fairly far apart due to his momentum, and upon landing, he had to tightly turn right as the slide spiraled downward. He and Sandy met up once more as the conjoined slides led into a cave, the two having to jump a few java pits and dodge some heat geysers before landing at the bottom.

The semi-natural cave started to blend into a restaurant again, more specifically the restaurant's basement. Jessie kept forward as Sandy gradually faded. (End song.)

"Huu, huu, huu…" Jessie had no idea how he winded up down here. He barely remembered what he was even doing. …Oh yeah, sinking in depression.

_"Jeeessie…"_

His vision was failing again. He could vaguely make out a blurry, yellow creature.

_"Jeeeeeeessie."_

"Sponge…bob?…"

_"Jessie… there's no reason to feel depreeeessed. Not if you… belieeeeeve."_

"Mmmm…"

_"Jessie…Jessie?…"_

"Jessie?" The blur vanished, and the yellow creature morphed into Sandy.

He shook his head, "Whuh?"

"Jessie, you got drunk again and wandered into the basement. You know what brainfreezes do to you."

"Mmmm…" He held his head. "Whaddid I do last night."

"Trained for the block contest. But then, well… Shelly beat you."

"Oh…" Jessie looked at his bubble bottle. "Almost out… guess we'll need to go to Sabaody and get more."

"Young man, you're gonna have to leave." A man approached them, his Goober costume off. "You knocked out all of our backup Goobers." They looked behind, seeing a bunch of Goofy Goobers on the floor.

"Ahhh this *** level's drawing on, anyway." Jessie said.

"HE CUSSED! !" The men screamed.

"He's having a bad day." Sandy said with teary eyes.

"POOR KID."

"Let's get outta here." Sandy said as she led her brother along. A small, gray mouse-like creature watched them from a hole in the wall.

**Düssenheim, Germany**

The Airline Gilligan finally took land as Kim led her daughter outside. "Well, Em… welcome to our homeland."

Düssenheim was a lovely city, mostly pearl-white buildings, and kind of a futuristic feel to it. The city was divided in two halves, with a great suspension bridge connecting both of them. Emily's nose, although mostly unfunctional, could whiff that sciency feel in the air, and the idea of being someplace like that made her nervous system react something fierce. The two took a taxi across the giant bridge to the other side of town where Adams Tech Co. resided. On the way, Emily spotted a particular mechanical tree in the distance. 'Twas her mom's old treehouse, Sector G.

They made it to Adams Tech, a large, mechanical building that took up an entire block, with a wide stairway entrance to many glass doors, and giant letters that emphasized the company's name on the center of the front. Emily restrained herself from rushing ahead of her mom, but her heart raced faster, the closer she got to the entrance. "Just remember to put on sunglasses before we enter the plasma radiation chamber." Kim cautioned with a humorous smile. "Let's go find my dad first and we can-"

"AAIEEE! AAAIEEE!" The two jumped when a brown monkey in yellow shorts, wearing a helmet with a red light, suddenly jumped between them in a frantic fashion. All around, monkeys were harassing the employees, tying them up, and taking many tools and inventions before escaping out the windows or doors.

"AAAAAH! Somebody get the containment chamber fixed!" a scientist cried as monkeys tugged on his white hair.

"Oh no! It's happening again!" Kim cried.

"What? What's happening, Mom?" Em asked.

She dropped her briefcase and said, "Em, just wait outside, I need to help them straighten this. Er- HEY, that guy's pen is not a cavity driller!" She hurried in.

Emily looked around and saw a huge, broken glass chamber, and a another one being brought in. She grabbed her Infi-Cube and extracted a mechanical net with tight, blue string.

**Kids Next Door: T.E.L.A.-N.E.T.**

**T**argets **E**nergy **L**ocation **A**llowing **N**etwork **E**nemy **T**ransport

A mini monitor activated on the net, and she aimed it at that glass chamber. After confirming its target, a monkey screeched and jumped to her, but she kicked it upside the chin to knock it down. "Hu hu! Thank goodness for my size-10s." She caught the monkey in the net, and in a flash, the creature vanished and appeared inside the glass chamber. "Let's hope my mom can handle things here. Time to catch some apes!" She smirked excitedly at the rampaging apes outside. (Play the Title Screen theme from _Ape Escape 3_!)

_Stage 4: Downtown Düssenheim_

_Mission: Capture 10 monkeys!_

Two monkeys were terrifying drivers on the street, forcing them to stop their cars and run away. Emily wore a green- and blue-striped hoolihoop called the Super Hoop, increasing her speed as she ran against one of the monkeys, knocking it down long enough so she could net it. The other monkey hopped across the cars to get away, and even her Super Hoop couldn't match his speed. He hopped his way up some building signs and windows, with athleticism Emily could never match. So she figured she'd find another way.

She turned down the left street where two monkeys hid behind cop cars at a roadblock, trying to shoot Emily with laser guns. She took cover behind two other cars and pulled out a slingshot called the Slingback Shooter. Through the cars' glass, she locked onto each monkey, so while they were behind their cars, she launched homing pellets that flew over and stunned the apes. She quickly hopped over the cars, and before the apes could get away, Emily whipped out her Stun Club – basically a toy lightsaber, but effective – and bashed the apes in the head. She caught them both in her T.E.L.A.-N.E.T., then proceeded to a town square with a huge, beautiful reflecting pool. Since all the roads were blocked for construction, Emily had to swim across using a small, yellow floatable device called the Water Net, which could fire a projectile T.E.L.A.-N.E.T. by pressing a button.

A monkey was quickly trying to swim away from her, but Emily kicked faster and switched on the mini boost setting, able to get close enough and catch the monkey in her net. She swam to the other side of the pool and climbed out, seeing the next round of monkeys down a street sloping downward. However, she first noticed the set of platform-stairs leading up a building, and used a helicopter device called the Sky Flyer to float up each platform and reach the roof.

In the distance, she saw the monkey that evaded her earlier, and quickly hopped across the rooftops to reach it. The monkey hopped into a small flying saucer and tried to shoot her from the air, but Emily narrowly avoided and locked on with her Slingshot's homing pellets, making direct hits. The saucer shot at her feet and made her wobble backwards, nearly falling over the edge. She thankfully held on with her right hand, and when the saucer loomed closer for one last shot, Emily flipped up and sliced the saucer across the bottom with her Stun Club. The ship exploded on the roof as the monkey flew out, dizzy, allowing Emily to catch it.

With her job half done, Emily returned to the top of the hill and ran down using the Super Hoop. She arrived at the suspension bridge, but huge gaps of it were destroyed as a roadblock blocked it. She noticed two monkeys on both the first two towers, so her only way across was up. Before going, she noticed a camera aimed up at the right tower, whose monkey was dressed in a Sonic Hedgehog suit. She pressed the switch by the camera to record the monkey.

**_Why do hedgehogs think this is fun?_** The subtitles read.

Having acquired the film, Emily wrapped both arms and legs around the left metal pipe that curved up to the tower, holding on tight as she inched her way up. She would never understand how Sonic and Shadow do this so easily—maybe she would make her own grindboots. She slowly inched toward the top of the tower, net ready as she prepared to catch the monkey. With a stylish flip up, the monkey was IN her net and teleported, while the Sonic monkey on the right tower slid down his rail and made the escape. Emily could make the slow climb down, but there was fixed road below her, so- "WHOOoooaaa." She dropped straight down and whipped out her Sky Flyer, landing softly.

The next bit of road was destroyed except a few platforms, so Emily hopped across until the last one stopped at a larger gap before a road sealed by a mechanical gate and archway. Two Pipodactyls came out, genetically created, small green pterodactyls with apelike mouths. They coughed fireballs that Emily narrowly jumped and dodged on her small platform, trying to shoot them with slingshot pellets which they dodged. She switched to homing pellets and had an easier time shooting them down, causing the gate to sink open.

Emily floated over with Sky Flyer and encountered a monkey controlling a green tank. She rolled and dodged its bombshells as she hurried around in search of a weakness. It was a fairly small tank, big as a go-kart, so Emily decided to rush up and try wailing on it with her Stun Club. The tank whipped around and knocked Emily down with its turret, and she gasped when it aimed directly at her. In a desperate attempt, she squeezed the turret and tried to force it upward, but it seems after a small error on the monkey's part, the tank hatch exploded and flew the monkey out. "Huhu! Never let a monkey run a spotlight!" So she caught it in her net and proceeded.

She made it to the other side of town, patrolled by Camerabots that shot small missiles which she batted away with the club, and exploded on them. There was a scaffolding nearby where a monkey dressed as Mario was jumping barrels thrown by a monkey dressed as Donkey Kong. She started to make her way up those narrow scaffolds herself, jumping any barrel that threatened to take her down. She made it to the Mario monkey and netted him, then continued up the building in her goal to catch the DK monkey (and not the one we all love :P). Once at the top, the monkey ran around frantically, but since it didn't have much room on this small road, he was easy to net.

"Just one more!" Emily exclaimed as she was one monkey away from her goal. She jumped down the scaffold excitedly, looking around for her next victim. A monkey spotted her as she eyed him like a prey, for this reason, he carjacked a random civilian and drove away. Even the Super Hoop wouldn't catch up, but she rushed up to another citizen in his parked car. "Excuse me," she panted, not used to this much exercise, "may I borrow this?"

"Uhhh… ja?"

"Great!" So he got out and allowed Emily to hop in and drive away.

"Vas she old enough to drive?"

Emily drove at high speed after the monkey, but they only seemed to follow a particular circle around some buildings. Emily rammed him from behind once, but since she hadn't acquired a license yet, keeping up was a pain. So using her brain instead, she decided to drive the opposite direction and ram the monkey when he came around. She did this twice before the ape swerved out of control and came to a crash. Dizzied and defeated, Emily could run up and- "YES! !" send him warping in her net. "GOT 'EM ALL!" Feeling purely victorious, she danced around like the joyous little nerd she was. She jumped high in the air, expecting to teleport for some reason, but- "OOF!" plopped onto her front. "Hehe… 'course there's actually a few left to capture. Huh?"

A group of remaining monkeys looked at her with worry. "AIEEEE!" They began to leap their way out of the city, in multiple directions before Emily helped herself to stand.

"Or not… oh well, they'll come back. Eventually. But holy WOW, that was awesome! Can't WAIT to see the look on my mom's face when she sees all those monkeys I caught! Hehe, I'm gonna go see her now! Ooo- and also get my anti-itching cream." Her skin was itching with excitement as she ran back to Adams Tech, scratching the whole way.

**Cleveland Beach**

Children were excited to be on the beach after a long, boring school day. Of course, a particular area was restricted, the humongous sandcastle created by Princess Shelly and her knights. Still, there was plenty of room on the other side of the beach. And that was where Rupert, Sappo, and Gibli landed in their tiny Onions.

The beach seemed much different to Rupert from his Minish-sized view. As big and vast as a scorching desert, the sun beating on his tiny body. They could feel the quaking of all the gigantic children frolicking on the beach. "So whaddo you guys do again?" he asked, trying to shield his eyes from the sun.

"We Minish mostly assist the bigger Kids Next Door, by giving them stuff they need."

"So we search around and steal stuff from big people before giving it to THEM!" Gibli bounced.

"But we gotta be discreet, 'cause most humans don't like havin' their pie snuck off the picnic blanket."

"And no one likes itchy ants crawlin' around their pants!"

"Yuck! I'm not going in anyone's pants!"

"You're not, Stupid, you're just taking stuff." Sappo stated. "But why'd you wanna go here, anyway?"

"'Cause I thooought…" It was hard to search around with that giant sun in his eyes. But in the distance, he could make out a peculiar sand statue, and two kids building it, a chubby boy in a hat and cape, and a girl with droopy sleeves. "There they are! Timmy and Hikari! I kinda wanted to get them on this, too."

"Hmmmm. Well, Pikmin users always work better in teams."

"If you can lead them to a Minish Portal, we can make them mini, too!" Gibli beamed.

"Where's a Minish Portal?"

"We have one in that rock over there." Sappo pointed to a mountain-sized (to them) boulder with a cave at the bottom. "Some Minish come here often. Just one problem: we don't have any reverse-Minish Dust left, so you won't be able to expand and get them to come over."

"I'll just get their attention like this."

"If you say so. We'll get the portal ready, good luck." (Play "Tropical Wilds" from _Pikmin 3_.)

_Stage 5: Bullies' Land_

_Mission: Collect treasures from the unsuspecting beach-goers._

Rupert gathered 20 Reds, 20 Yellows, 22 Blues, 10 Whites, and 22 Wings, making 94 total. He first led them through a wide, snaky gorge dug within the beach, where Yellow Wollywogs (frog-like creatures with no mouths) tried to crush them with their bulky bodies. Rupert kept his Pikmin away from their stomps and rapidly tossed Pikmin onto them, keeping the frogs down until they were defeated. He bested the three Wollywogs, but lost 4 Reds in the scuffle. He decided to let the Reds take one of them back and make 5 Reds, had the Whites take one back, then the Blues. He now had 21 Reds and 15 Whites, marking 100 total.

After the snaky gorge came a vast, open field of the beach where many people roamed. Rupert led them to a gigantic pool chair where it appeared some woman was getting a tan, although it was far too high to see from this view. A bottle of sunscreen (Contained O-zone) was sticking over the edge of the chair, so Rupert sent his Wing Pikmin up to grab and begin to carry it back. They further explored the beach, but the other half was blocked by what appeared to be a Minish-size river. The river required another bridge of tiles, which was once again missing, so they searched this field for the pieces.

They found a giant, 10-year-old girl seated on her knees while she played with a Barbie doll. The doll's dress was composed of the tiles that made the bridge, so they would have to distract her somehow. Near the girl's foot was a hole containing a Hermit Crawmad, which emerged at the sight of the Pikmin. Having an idea, Rupert only led a single White Pikmin between the Crawmad and the girl's pinky toe. When the creature lunged, Rupert dodged and caused it to nip the toe. "Ow!" The girl leapt to her feet and stomped the Crawmad before walking off to get some lotion, dropping her doll in the process. He put his Pikmin to the task of taking the tiles to the bridge while he rushed back to get the 22 Wing Pikmin.

Upon the bridge's completion, Rupert guided his Pikmin to the second half of the field. He saw a boy buried up to his chest in sand, struggling to escape, likely the work of some bully. Even though Pikmin could dig, it would take a bit more work considering his size. He decided to leave him 'til he had a solution, and instead walked to another boy building a sandcastle. Actually, it was more like a series of platforms, each taller than the next, with the middle, tallest one having a tiny Lucario statue on top. The first set of platforms were easy to jump on his own, the annoying part was throwing the Pikmin onto each one. Unfortunately, the last few were farther up, and while he could throw his Pikmin, he couldn't jump up himself. He decided to send the Wing Pikmin to collect the statue from there, but the boy swatted the Pikmin away, believing them to be bugs.

With no known solution, Rupert dropped from the platforms and gathered his Pikmin to continue on. They marched up a sandy hill where they finally arrived at Rupert's friends, Timmy and Hikari. They appeared to be constructing a giant sand statue of First Grade President, Jessie Sidney, hands on his hips and a proud smile. The sand-plaque on the pedestal read _Jessie Rulez! Shelly Sucks!_ "I still don't think the hands-on-hips looks good." Timmy said. "I mean, GUYS don't do that!"

"YES they do! I saw Dad do it all the time!"

"No you didn't."

"HEEEEEEY! TIMMYYYY! HIKARIIII! I-"

_"… … … …!"_ Their ears were miles away from Rupert's tiny voice.

"Ah, crud… Wait." Rupert noticed something odd about the statue's right eye (his left). It was darker than the other one, which was just a dimmer shade of sand. "…Hey, let's see if we can knock that down." He found a slight slope of sand that allowed them onto the pedestal, where he sent his Pikmin to attack the statue's shoes. The vibrations caused the mysterious object to fall. It was a Purple Onion, which landed in front of the pedestal on three legs. A single seed plopped out of the statue and planted in the ground. Rupert hurried down to pluck this new Pikmin. It was purple with eyelashes, and notably chubby. He also noted how heavy it felt when plucking it.

**Rupert discovered _Purple Pikmin_! They may be small, but these guys are bullies of the beach! They are 10 times stronger than the average Pikmin, and guys you shouldn't engage with in a fight! They're pretty slow, so keep an eye on them.**

Rupert tried to make the Pikmin follow him, but he shook his head no. Reason being, Rupert already had 100. So he told 10 Reds and 5 Whites to return to the Onions ('cause he ain't makin' that run :P). He was then able to get the Purple Pikmin to follow him, having the strong guy take several purple Pellet Posies and produce more. By the end, he had 13 Purples, 98 total. He still wasn't sure how to get Timmy and Hikari's attention, but he noticed Hikari's dark-purple Rainbow Monkey on the ground behind her. It was a Ten-Tons-of-Goodness Rainbow Monkey, much heavier than it appeared. It required 101 Pikmin, so his 13 Purples were on the case. Since they moved exceedingly slow, he sent other Pikmin to help, too.

"Huh?" Hikari looked up when her Rainbow Monkey began moving on its own. "LOOK, Timmy! My Ten-Tons-of-Goodness Rainbow Monkey wants us to follow it!"

"Huh?" Indeed, the stuffed toy was going somewhere. "Ummm… I think some ants mistook it for a snack."

"Those silly ants know better than THAT! Let's go see where it's going!"

They followed the Pikmin all the way back to the landing area, with Rupert keeping a steady distance behind. The Pikmin brought it to the boulder where the Minish Portal was stationed and tossed the stuffed toy on top. The kids watched with wonder as green dust rose from the hole in the boulder and sucked the monkey inside. "Heeeeey!" Hikari whined. The two climbed on and tried to peep in the hole, and were soon sucked in by the green dust as well.

"WAAAAHH- uuh!" They took land on the ground after bouncing down some boulders.

"Hey, guess Rupert figured something out!" Sappo said. Timmy and Hikari exchanged baffled looks.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Rupert greeted, entering the boulder.

"RUPPY? Where are we?" Hikari asked.

"You're in the Minish World!" Gibli bounced. "Rupert led you to our portal. You're tiny now!"

"Say what?" questioned Timmy.

"Hehe… you guys wanna hear a funny story?" Rupert grinned.

So for the next few minutes, Rupert explained the random events that led him to the Minish World. Hikari also proceeded to take back her minimized Rainbow Monkey from the Purple Pikmin. "So why'd you drag US into this?" Timmy questioned.

"What, I thought you guys might like it, too. You are explorers, right?"

"Well, you coulda ASKED us!"

"Come on, Timmy! I bet it'll be fun!" Hikari beamed. "I wanna see what Jessie's statue looks like from here!"

"Well, okay… but I get 10 bucks after this!" he demanded from Rupert.

"Deal."

And with that, they continued the journey across the sandy fields. They returned to the boy that was half-buried in the sand. "What happened to him, anyway?"

"One of Shelly's knights." Timmy replied. "Stupid meanie."

"Well, let's help 'im!" Rupert sent all the Pikmin to dig him up, and with the 13 Purples' help, it was easy.

"WHOA!" He was surprised when his arms popped out, and was able to push himself out the rest of the way. "…Ha ha! Who's a wimp NOW!" Proud of his newfound strength, he ran off. The three looked inside his hole and spotted a discarded No. 2 pencil (Tool of Creation). They sent 5 Wing Pikmin down to take it back while they led the other Pikmin to the group of sand platforms. They jumped their way up, bringing the Pikmin, and this time, Timmy could throw Rup and Hikari on the second-highest platform, while Rupert threw Hikari to the highest afterward.

The boy fixing this sandcastle took notice of the little creature that was just thrown on. He squinted closely, seeing the teeny Hikari wave happily. The idea of a little person was too much to bear, so he fainted. They were safely able to take the Lucario statue (Lost Hero) using 5 White Pikmin. The trio proceeded up the hill where the Jessie statue rested. From this view, Jessie's proud figure looked even more heroic. Probably because it was much bigger. "SEE, I TOLD you the hands-on-hips looked cool!" Hikari stated.

They passed the statue and continued down a hill, seeing a volleyball game taking place between two boys and two girls. Their movement was random, so they would have to guide the Pikmin through carefully and quickly, for they could lose tons in just one stomp. When the ball was knocked fairly far, they seized the moment to run across the center. They were almost out of breath by the time they reached the center line under the net, but panicked when the Purple Pikmin were falling behind. One of the boys came back and squished three Purples, their spirits floating away. Before proceeding, they noticed the referee boy seated atop a tall chair on the side of the court, and the shiny whistle on his armrest. They hurried to the chair and climbed the convenient, Minish-size ladder to his armrest.

They used their 10 remaining White Pikmin to take the whistle (Sound of Sadness) without the boy's knowledge. "Hey, Timmy, run back to the start and get the Pikmin back." Rupert told him as they climbed back to the ground. Timmy avoided the boys again while Rupert and Hikari continued past the girls. But since the whistle had been taken, the game went on forever. Rupert and Hikari saw a series of floatable items off a nearby shore, so they decided to explore them. An inflatable raft floated close to the shore, so they threw their Pikmin onto it before jumping on their selves.

They crossed the raft and found a remote-controlled toy boat zooming around a set circle, controlled by a kid in an inner-tube. They hopped in the boat with all their Pikmin and waited for it to pass the boy's floatie, then hopped off. The kid didn't notice the swarm of bugs as they walked around the back of the floatie. A squirt gun was in the back of the boy's pants, so they had some Wing Pikmin pull it out. They called the Wings back and had the Blue Pikmin take the squirt gun through an underwater route. "Hey, why don't we just SWIIIIM?" queried Hikari.

"I ain't swimmin' in that stuff, might get eaten by a fish."

The duo jumped back to the boat and waited for it to pass a series of fun-noodles, which were spinning in place. When the closest noodle's end looped by them, they could jump when the boat passed, and had to wait for the other noodles to make loops before jumping. They were led to a boy that was sitting on three noodles, bobbing up and down, with all three making a staircase when they went up, and at level when going down. They gathered on the third, highest one and could make the jump to a giant fat guy snoozing on an inflatable raft. There was no other way to go, but the bouncy belly sunk up and down as he breathed. …The two formed an idea.

"Whoooaa!" Timmy finally made it back with the other Pikmin, jumping from the noodle to the huge belly. "Hey, guys. What'd I miss?"

"We're about to do something really cool!" Rupert grinned. They began to rapidly throw their Purple Pikmin onto the stomach, the intense weight making it sink further and further down. Once all the way down, it shot up, the trio and the Pikmin flying many meters across the sea. They fell right in the hole of a fun-noodle held by a boy who, after dipping it in water, blew the water at a girl with a fun-noodle, and the many Pikmin and trio with it. They flew over the girl and landed perfectly on a starfish carried by a giant seagull. They soared all the way back to the beach and dropped off right atop the Jessie statue's head. From here, they could see the whole beach. (End song.)

_Stage Progress: Red Pikmin: 26. Yellow Pikmin: 24. Blue Pikmin: 27. Pink Pikmin: 30. White Pikmin: 26. Purple Pikmin: 10. Total: 122._

It really was a spectacular view from this colossal statue. Kids running around and having fun, almost no concerns at all around this beach. "You know, this actually is kinda fun, Rupert." Timmy smiled.

"I bet JESSIE would love this, too!" Hikari beamed.

"Hey, what is with this statue, anyway? Jessie win something?" Rupert asked.

"No, actually he… lost something." Timmy informed. "He, uh… took it kinda bad."

At this time, Sappo and Gibli were flying to the statue using Wing Pikmin. "Well, you guys look pretty adjusted." Sappo figured.

"WAIT a second, we can just FLY everywhere with these wing guys? ?" Rupert questioned.

"Yes, but THAT'S no fun!" Gibli said. "Great job on all the treasures you collected! You serve your Kids Next Door proud!"

"Well, technically we aren't Kids Next Door." Rupert said. "We're- WHOOOAA!" A giant beachball flew in and blew the statue's head clean off.

The kids recovered dizzily and- "AAAH!" jumped when a gigantic foot stomped behind them. Towering over them was a furious Princess Shelly. Timmy and Hikari didn't like her enough as is… they sure hoped this 100-foot one didn't discover them.

"Can't a princess go on a leisurely stroll without REBELLION in her kingdom? WHO BUILT THAT STATUE? WELL?" The beach-goers exchanged baffled looks.

"My Princess." One of the knights bowed. "I have interrogated all of the peasants. All claim to be innocent."

"Well, SOMEONE must be lying. And I'll find out at any cost. No liar can escape ME when my foot is down. And whoever done it's getting so much sand in their shorts, they won't-" She was about to take a step forward, the kids ducking under the shadow of her giant foot.

She froze in place when the beach began trembling. Over the shore, a huge, black battleship emerged from the sea and lowered a ramp to the beach, allowing a van to back up onto it. A squad of Teen Ninjas hopped out, led by Nya LaMar. "Hey, Princess Brat, time to go. His _Majesty_ wants you."

"His _Majesty_?" A knight gaped.

"Doth she mean…" another spoke.

"What? Do they mean Shelly's dad?" Rupert asked.

"Well, yeah. Don't you know who her dad is?" Timmy asked.

"Sappo! Sappo! It's her!" Gibli bounced with worry.

"I know." With a fierce look, Sappo whistled and summoned a swarm of Wing, Purple, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin to attack Shelly's feet while the Minish climbed her left leg.

"What the-? !" Shelly was quick to feel them.

"GIVE BACK OUR PRINCESS YOU BIG-FOOTED FREAK!" Gibli yelled.

"Uck, bugs!" She stomped her feet, blew the Pikmin away, and made Sappo and Gibli fall.

_"WAH!"_ The twins were then caught inside a glass jar by one of the knights.

"My Princess: these be the rebellious bugs." He presented them to Shelly.

"Hmmm aren't you a peculiar breed of vermin." Shelly smirked wickedly at the Minish. "These'll make an excellent prize. To the sea, knights." As they marched to the truck, Sappo pressed his face to the glass and yelled to Rupert, his voice still muffled.

_"RUPERT! Take our Pikmin! They're not just ours, they're…"_ His voice was barely audible the further he got.

"Where do you think they're going?" Timmy asked.

"I dunno... but I feel like we won't be getting bigger anytime soon." Rupert said with worry.

_Updated Progress: Red Pikmin: 26. Yellow Pikmin: 30. Blue Pikmin: 33. Pink Pikmin: 35. White Pikmin: 26. Purple Pikmin: 20. Total: 170._

**Chariton Household; backyard**

After Sunni left, Mika returned to her peaceful slumber beside the tree. The gentle breeze rustled the leaves and chilled her mocha skin. There was no better time to sleep. The rustling of leaves and those three particular bushes would ensure her good dreams. …Wait a sec. Did those bushes just move forward? And since when did she have them, anyway? Waaait…

At that instant, a woman with long, rose-red hair, a handsome man with short blue hair, and a short catlike creature jumped out from the bushes. They wore white shirts and pants, black shoes, and big red "R" symbols on their shirts. "PREPARE for trouble!" The woman exclaimed.

"And make it double." The man followed.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Mika continued snoring.

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

The woman spun. "Jessie!"

The man joined. "James."

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

The cat jumped on their shoulders. "Meeeeowth! That's right!"

A blue blob popped out and said, "Woooobbuffet!"

"Snoooore…shoooo." Mika looked very peaceful.

Team Rocket glared in disbelief. _"…Told you we shoulda gave the updated version."_ Meowth mumbled.

"We have so many mottos, Meowth, I can't possibly remember them all." James spoke in a sheepish fashion.

"Woooobbuffet!"

"Grrrrr WAKE UP, YOU DITZ!" Meowth lunged at Mika for a scratch to the face, but was immediately bounced away by her Logia defense.

"Yyyyyaaaaawwwwn." Mika stretched awake, finally seeing her "assaulters". "Huh… who are you guys." Her eyes were still weary.

They exchanged confused glances. "We're Team Rocket… and, we're here to capture you." Jessie said.

"Team Rocket… huuuuh… !" Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, you guys are Team Rocket cosplayers!" They exchanged another glance. "Hold on, I'll get one, too!" She giddily ran to her house. The agents merely stood and stared confusedly. Mika soon zipped out dressed as, "TA-DAAAA! I'm Bianca! Heehee!" She made a cute pose.

"…" They didn't get this girl at all. "Um, we don't understand the 'cosplay' part, but… we are Team Rocket agents, and we're here to capture you for your power." Jessie explained once more.

"…Oh? Hmmm…" Mika's costume fell off (her real clothes underneath) as she studied the trio. "…PLAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" She held her stomach and fell on her back laughing.

"HEY, TOOTS! What's so funny? !" questioned Meowth.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA you guys are, gonna try and capture me, PLAAAH ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Grrrr we'll teach YOU to laugh at us!" declared Jessie. "GO, Arbok!" She threw her Poké Ball and released the purple cobra.

"CHAAABOKUP!" it hissed.

"GO WEEZING! Victreebel!" James released his Pokémon.

_"We're scared."_ said the Weezing. The Victreebel however-

"GAAAAH! Stop it you stupid thing, can't I release you just once without-" The plant Pokémon munched his master.

"Arbok, use Poison Sting!" Jessie yelled.

"CHAAAA!" It unleashed a storm of needles which Mika blocked.

"Weezing, Smokescreen!" commanded James.

_"Wee-"_ The Weezing clouded the area with poison gas, making Mika hold her breath.

"GO, Victreebel!"

"Bel!" The plant-type wrapped Mika in its vines. With a smirk, Mika stretched a barrier to free herself, then flew up to blow all the gas away with psychic.

"Arbok, go!" The cobra launched up to wrap itself around Mika, bringing her to the ground. She merely teleported away and thrusted her arms, blowing them away with psychic.

"Graaaaah forget this crud!" Meowth decided. "Listen, Toots, we got us a whole fleet waitin' to blow this city to bits, so you better play your cards right and come with us!"

"Hmmmmmm…" With an innocent grin, Mika raised her hands, "Then I GUESS you caught me!"

"…" They froze stiff. "Huh?"

"I don't want the city getting destroyed so, I'll just come quietly." She held her arms out.

"…Well, that's great." Jessie said.

They summoned a helicopter with an "R" symbol and led Mika onboard. Sunni woke up from her nap and walked outside to see the commotion. She gasped, "Mom!"

"Oh, hey Sunni!" Mika called over the loud propellers, still with a grin. "Tell your dad I've been taken captive, so I won't make it to dinner! See you later, Honeeeeyy!" Too dumbstruck to speak, Sunni only watched as her mom boarded the chopper and flew beyond the heavens. Who on Earth would be able to kidnap her mom, and why would she go with them so easily. …Looks like Sunni was in for a whole new adventure.

**Sector V's C.O.O.L.-B.U.S.**

"Now that I think about it, I wonder if MaKayla knows anything about these Keys." Haylee mentioned, piloting her team's aircraft. "After all, she did go through a phase where, she knew everything."

"So did Mr. Garley. For a moment." Harry remembered.

"Let's pick up Dillon at Rhode Island first." Aurora said. "His school should be clearing out, too."

"Yaaaaawn. You mates go ahead 'nd do that… I'ma lay down for a wee nap." Sheila moaned, lying on her bench.

"Okay, but if we end up crashing in a really ripper land of bigness and adventures, don't blame us if we don't wake up." Mason chuckled.

But his friend was already fast asleep, snoring away. Seeing her so peaceful always made Mason smile, and made him wonder what she could be dreaming about. He'd really love to have those dreams with her.

**Quahog; James Woods Elementary**

School was clearing out at James Woods Elementary, but a few kids were staying to play on the playground. Among these students were Dillon York and Zach and Maddy Murphy. "Siiigh, I have got _loooads_ of homework to do." The former said.

"I'm glad I'm not in your sector." Maddy replied. "So Dillon, is your cousin still a giant?"

"Yep. It's gettin' kinda rough 'cause he can't sleep inside his house. His mom usually has to come out and pat him to sleep. Feel kinda sad for 'im."

"I'd feel sad for that Gang of his, having to put up with his stink." Zach remarked.

"Like you ever had to complain about-"

"BARK! BARK! BARK!"

"Sparkyyyy!" Maddy smiled joyously when her puppy ran over to start licking her. "What're you doing here!"

"Great, the minute I thought school was the only safe place." Zach said smugly.

"You think he got lonely?" Dillon smiled humorously.

"Awwww did you get lonely boy, you missed me?" Maddy cooed, ruffing the puppy's hair.

Unbeknownst to them, the image from Sparky's eyes was displayed on a screen. _"Yes… THERE she is!"_

_"Mwah ha ha hah! Then let's GET HER!"_

The children's playtime came to a halt when a tremendous shadow fell over the land. They looked up, mouths frozen agape. A humongous spaceship hovered over the school and dropped swarms of robots with slug-like eyes inside green domes, two arms with electric claws, and no legs. One robot skimmed around and scanned Maddy's body. _"Target identified. Preparing to-"_ Said girl immediately lunged over and kicked through the robot's dome, knocking him down. _"You didn't even give me a chance…"_ He fainted dead.

The robots furiously began blasting lasers around the playground, the kids scurrying away in terror. Dillon trapped several robots in Shadow Possession and Strangled them, and Maddy easily flipped around and bested most of the robots with a single kick. "Nnn! Zach, we could use help from you, too." Dillon grunted.

"I'm a lizard. Oink oink." Zach had turned into a duck.

"QUIT PLAYIN' DUMB AND GET OVER HERE!"

Two robots tried to grab Maddy, but she grabbed and tied their tentacles together, making them shock each other, then grabbed another's tentacle to swing him into another, then slipped behind one's back, pulled and twisted his wrist, then kicked him to the ground. She raised her fist at another approaching robot, but it pretended to choke, and fell. "Heh! Whatever alien freak sent you guys, he's got a-" She was suddenly trapped inside an anti-gravity bubble.

_"Pitiful humans. You who try to resist the inevitable, against some reasonably inferior minions… prepare to suffer humiliating defeat by, wait for it… _LORD VORSELON! !" A robotic alien with an orange, buff metal body, claw hands, tentacle legs, and a green, one-eyed head inside a dome presented himself.

_Name: Flint Vorselon_

_Race: Terraklon_

_Occupation: Mercenary, former Zordoom prisoner._

_Ability: Well, he knows how to talk._

"Vorse-who?" questioned Zach.

"I said, LORD VORSELON! The greatest assassin in ALL of POLARIS! And by the command of his greatness, Dr. Nefarious, THE CHILD THAT IS MAD is coming with me!"

"Who the heck is Dr. Nefarious and whaddoes he want with Mad?" Zach demanded.

"Lord Vorselon reveals NOTHIIING! You have heard of no plans from him!"

"Uhh… yeah we did." Dillon said.

"WHAT'S that? You think Lord Vorselon is AWESOME?"

"NO WE DON'T."

"MWAH HA HAAAH! Once again, Lord Vorselon has-"

A grappling hook shot over and scratched his suit's waist. "-been made a complete fool." remarked Drake Puncture coolly.

"Drake!" Dillon beamed.

"WAH!" Vorselon zapped Drake with the same anti-gravity bubble.

"Fool! You will make an EXCELLENT trophy for Vorselon's successful capture! I retreat for now, but you haven't seen the last of… LORD VORSELOOON! MWEH HA HA HEH!" The alien teleported, and both anti-gravity bubbles flew into the starship.

"MADDY!" Zach yelled.

_"Zach! Dillon!"_ Her voice was barely heard as she vanished inside the vessel. The starship faced toward the heavens and took off for the stars. Zach and Dillon exchanged frantic glances and decided to ditch school early.

**Team Gnik's Hideout**

The mysterious being sat quietly in his chamber. His subordinates had gone to their designated areas, so their plans may proceed. The first terminal to switch on was that of Giovanni, the man in the orange tux petting his Persian. _"It's been 3 days as you said, Lesser Lord. May we finally begin?"_ The other screens switched on, displaying the others' images.

_"Yes… the month of May has arrived."_ Ragaj Gnik said. _"The Apocalypse will happen at the end of this month. So capturing the Seven Lights is our top priority. The Darknesses, on the other hand, will take care of themselves. So… Giovanni!"_ He looked at the grinning man. _"Specter!"_ He looked at the white-furred monkey in the floating chair. _"Plankton!"_ He looked at the single-eyed microorganism. _"Mr. Dark!"_ At the blue-cloaked man with yellow eyes. _"Dr. Nefarious!"_ At the blue-skinned robot with a dome head. _"And… X.A.N.A., wherever he is. The Quest for Seven Lights begins now. We will set off for the New World."_

* * *

><p><strong>And set off, for destruction. So apparently the quest begins NOW? ? But the heroes don't even know what they're doing, yet. X Oh well, maybe we'll reach that point. Eventually. . .**


	5. A Real Crazy Weirdo

**Yo, guys!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Our Villains Are Met! Team Gnik Makes Their Presence Known!<em>**

**Adams Tech Co.**

Emily hurried back to the building as things had calmed down a bit. "Emily, there you are!" her mother yelled, running to her. "Where did you go? ?"

"Hehe, relax, Mom!" Emily blushed. "Just thought I'd, monkey around a bit and catch some monkeys." They looked to the containment capsule where the 10 monkeys were held.

"But… How did you-"

"With my T.E.L.A.-N.E.T.!" Emily held the net up. "I locked on the containment chamber so the monkeys would be transported inside! Or anything else I felt like catching, he he he."

"Well… great job, Em!" Kim smiled. "'Course there's still a bunch more that escaped from the lab, but we can track down the last few in town easily. Come upstairs, want you to meet someone."

Kim guided her to a laboratory on the highest floor of the building. A brown-haired woman in a lab coat was speaking to an employee before he walked away. "Emily, this is one of our leading scientists, Rebecca Jake. Professor Rebecca, this is…"

"Holy cow!" Emily perked. "I know you! You used to be in the Amish Sector!"

"Hm hm hm… did I?" Rebecca smiled. "I've been surrounded by technology so long, I can hardly remember ever living on a farmland."

"Hu hu! You became the KND's best scientist after you transferred to the Aquatic Lab! Hardly any experience and you were a natural! I gotta have your autograph!"

"Hm hm, maybe later. We have a feeling who's behind all these escaped monkeys. No doubt, it's the work of Specter."

"Who's Specter?" Emily asked.

"Specter was one of many test-subject monkeys we had here in the lab." Kim explained. "11 years ago, we created the Peak Point Helmet and placed it on him. It was a helmet that could grant artificial intelligence, and we created hundreds. But those were Pipo Helmets, lesser variants, and Specter's was the core helmet, which granted him artificial psychicbending. Using his powers, he broke out of the lab and stole the other helmets, giving them to all sorts of monkeys. He tried to take over the world, but we managed to stop him. I don't see how he-"

_"__Why, with my superb planning, of course."_ They all jumped when a TV came on, displaying Specter's image. (Cue Specter's Theme from _Ape Escape_.)

"Specter!" Kim gasped.

_"__Though I will confess, I couldn't have done it all on my own. Mr. Mogul, for example, provided great assistance in duplicating these Pipo Helmets. As for how I escaped myself, well… I'll let this gentleman explain."_ The camera rotated to a shadowed, slim man with an afro.

_"__Now making his grand entrance, the most _charming_ man ladies go ga-ga over…"_

Kim and Rebecca rolled their eyes.

_"__I am the ultimate scientist! 48 years old; single, I'm 6'3'' (including hair), weigh 145 lbs. (also including hair), my favorite color is turquoise, favorite food is ramen, favorite sport baseball, 1300 IQ, my uncle's name was-"_

_"__AHEM."_ Specter coughed.

_"__Please, give a round of applause for-"_ The light shone on his form, revealing himself a slim man in a white lab coat, golden afro, and purple mask, _"Doctor Tomoki."_

"TOMOKI? !" Kim screamed.

_"__Oh… you've heard of me?"_ He grinned with sparkly teeth.

"He used to be one of my dad's employees. And his best friend from Japan." Kim recalled. "I remember seeing him when I visited here when I was 13. My dad said he disappeared several years ago. Why did you…"

_"__Let's just say I had a difficult past. The point is, I acquired the discarded blueprints of the original Peak Point Helmet and had it recreated. Then snuck into the building and rescued Specter from his state. But with all the protection, it was impossible by myself, so I had help from-"_

_"__HE HAD HELP FROM I: Mmmooojo Jojo,"_ A green-skinned, black-furred monkey appeared, with a purple cape, white boots and gloves, and a white, purple-striped helmet over his head, _"who has heard of Specter's miraculous designs and sought to make an alliance with him, which is what we did, after we rescued him, due to mine and Tomoki's ingenious planning, because we are smart, and you imbeciles are-"_

_"__Okay okay, I think they-"_ Specter tried to speak, but his mechanical collar sparked, reverting to his nasally voice. _"DAAAH this voice-modifier will be my bane! Cut the camera, cut cut-!"_

The screen switched to a picture of a monkey shrugging sheepishly and holding a potato camera. Next to him read, _Technical difficulties. Sorry about that._

The screen soon cut back to Specter, back in his cooler, echoey voice. _"Ahhh, that's better. Now without any need to go into all the details, I have successfully assembled my army of over 500 apes, and as we speak, they are producing more Pipo Helmets and hunting more apes to add to my army. And commanding those monkeys are the five most intelligent apes in my army, next to Yours Truly of course. Sadly, my Freaky Monkey Five cannot be here now. But if you are wise, you'll stay where you are and not have to meet them."_

"What's wrong, Specter? Afraid we'll send all your monkeys back to the zoo? 'Cause THAT'S what's gonna happen- snort!" Emily declared.

_"__Hmph… am I afraid of some girl who looks like she has uncontrollable sweatglands?"_

Emily blushed and shifted her foot.

_"__Very well… I accept your challenge, little girl. But just so you know, it's not just me and my army of apes. We have many legions, and they're spread across much of the universe. I look forward… to more."_ The screen blanked. (End song.)

"Legions across the universe… where've I heard _that_ before?" Kim questioned.

"Either way, we can't let Specter or any of those apes run around." Rebecca said. "They'll drive any place they visit into chaos. …And it looks like they got pretty far using our transporters."

"So let's get out there and stop them!" Emily perked. "I grabbed some of the monkeys' fur so I can track them with my-"

"Hold on, Em, we aren't even sure how strong his forces are." Kim replied. "And those legions he mentioned, they could be-"

"I know." she said quickly and knowledgeably. "It's just like when Gnaa appeared with his allies, isn't it, Mom? The past is repeating itself, and my archaeological instincts tell me it has to do with this inevitable doom that Cheren mentioned. I need to find this Specter guy and find out what he knows about… well, any of this. Then I have to tell Cheren so he can tell all the other kids. Come on, Mom, just let me go!"

"What's this about an… inevitable doom?" a scientist asked.

"Oh, right. You guys probably haven't heard, hehehehe."

"Well, she did a great job rounding up these few monkeys." Rebecca noted. "She could help us catch some more. But doing it by yourself might be too much."

"Way ahead of you!" Emily perked. "Can one of your transporters send me to Nashville? I have a few friends that can help."

"Nashville, Tennessee?" Rebecca asked, observing a transporter's monitor. "A few monkeys are actually around that area. …I wonder if they're attacking Kids Next Door regions?"

"That's what I'm gonna find out." Emily declared. "I'll find out what Specter's up to and catch every last monkey! Get ready to warp me!"

"Hold on, we still didn't agree to let you go!" Rebecca yelled. "We can't even call you back with the teleporter. You might-"

"It's okay, Becca." Kim intervened. "I think Em might be on to something about Specter. And I know she can handle it." She smiled at her daughter. "She has that Garley-Adams smartness. Right?"

Emily blushed and scratched her head. "Huhuhuhu- snort."

"Well… if you say so." Rebecca agreed. "We'll send our Infobox Drones out too to give you help if you need it. Good luck, Emily."

Emily excitedly hopped on the teleporter and warped to Nashville. Kim's daughter was off on another adventure. …By which she meant her first adventure.

**The Tree of Beginning**

The R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R. landed just outside the mountain range of the Tree of Beginning as Cheren and Nebula climbed out. They approached the seemingly dead-end wall, where two teeny Minish guards stood. _"__Halt! Who goes there?"_ one spoke in a voice no one could possibly hear at a normal height.

"Uhhhh…" Cheren moaned.

The guard rolled her eyes and pulled out a Minish-size megaphone (a miniphone). _"I said, who GOES there? Giant humans…"_

"We're with the Kids Next Door." Nebula responded. "We're here to speak with the Minish KND Leader."

_"__On what grounds?"_

"On the grounds that we brought Floran Spring Cherries."

_"__Yaaaaaaaay!"_ A storm of tiny cheers squeaked across the wall.

_"__Fine. You can come in. OPEEEEN!"_

A group of earthbender Minish hauled the tremendous (kid-sized) gate open, Cheren and Nebula having to duck to get in. They patiently followed the Minish guard up the populace tree, where many Minish roamed the forest of flowers beneath their feet. _"__AAAAAAHH! !"_ Cheren looked by his left foot, seeing a Minish kid in an open spot. _"__YOU SQUISHED 10 OF MY PIKMIN! !"_

"Um… sorry."

_"__Aw, GREAT! Now I owe Mulberry 5 nuts! Dumb humans visiting our tree…"_ She led her Pikmin away in anger.

The two were led to the near-top of the tree, the guard stopping before a tall stone pillar. _"__Numbuh Hundred Acres, Sir: these human Kids Next Door have come to speak with you."_

This thin pillar that towered many stories was a throne, where the Minish Leader sat high and proud, viewing for miles. He was at neck level with Cheren and Nebula, and it looked as though his throne could be easily snapped between their fingers. _"__And to what do I owe this blocking of my view?" _Minish Leader Lenari wore a blue shirt, black shorts, black shoes, and a black pointed hat. He really loved that color, apparently.

Nebula bent down slightly and spoke professionally, "Numbuh Hundred Acres, I am Numbuh Eternal, Supreme Leader of the Galactic Kids Next Door. This is Cheren, Leader of Earth's Kids Next Door. We are here to request an alliance with your organization, and your membership in the Galactic Kid Council. In doing so, you will be provided with assistance from other KNDs, if you so need, but you will also be required to attend regular council meetings and assist our members if requested. It's all written in this contract if you want to join." She pulled out a paper with the written information. "Just sign here. …You can make a tiny signature if you want, we can magnify it."

_"…__Hmmmm…"_ Lenari studied the contract thoughtfully. _"To be honest, we Minish KND have always been a discreet organization, with our main purpose providing secret assistance to the Human KND."_

"Well, this way we can be helping each other." Cheren noted.

_"__Well, making ourselves more open might only lead to negative consequences on our end. Besides, we're kind of at a negative standpoint with the humans at the moment."_

"Whaddyou mean?"

_"__About 5 months ago, a group of humans broke in here and kidnapped our princess, Gonshiri. We've determined they were some royal types, who occasionally kidnap our kind to be made as slaves, and we're trying to locate and rescue her. Before that happens, signing any treaties or major legal documents shouldn't happen without her consult."_

"Maybe we can help. Do you know what her kidnappers looked like?" Cheren asked.

_"__They looked like knights in fairly colorful armor. That's why we assumed them to be rich people. Anyway, I'll think about your treaty, but I can't sign now, and I can't promise the princess will agree, either. She's… kinda snotty."_

"Thank you for your time." Nebula said, putting the contract away. "If you make up your mind, get one of Cheren's operatives to tell him, and he'll tell me. That is, if he's a good boy." She smiled witfully.

_"__Just be careful not to step on any of us on the way out."_

"Well said." With that, Nebula warped them both out, the flash making the tiny Minish leader dizzy for a few moments.

The two reappeared just beside the R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R.. "Well, I guess I'll head back to GKND." Nebula decided. "Also… something weird." She gave Cheren a letter. "This was inside our mailbox, meant to be given to you." Cheren looked at it confused. "I don't know who it's from, but… well, just watch yourself. You have a knack for getting into trouble. 'specially with me." She winked. "Ciao." And she warped away.

Cheren had no idea what it could be, either. A letter given to Nebula to give to him… who in Galaxia would be acquainted with him, besides the operatives. He cracked it open and found a heart-shaped symbol with an empty face at the bottom on the note's cover. He opened and read, _Meet me at Roguetown Station, 8pm tonight. Tell no one._ Signed with a heart. Cheren folded and hid the note in his jacket with a very suspicious look. Here we go again…

**Dream Realm**

Sheila was fast asleep on the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S.. While everyone else was sitting boredly… Sheila was already on an adventure.

"WAAAAHH- UUH!" She fell past many leaves and bounced down a series of branches, finally crashing on the ground. "Nnnnn… ?" She rubbed her head and looked up, feeling a shadow over her. A gang of ruthless thugs with light-brown sack-like clothes, big round hats, shotguns, and scarecrow-like faces stood over her with rageful looks. She stood up and merely wore a baffled expression, scratching her head. The thugs were pretty confused their selves, exchanging glances with each other. For many minutes, no one said anything. Just… stood there weirdly.

"LOOK OUT BELOOOOWW!" The green fairy creature that Sheila saw before, with the big grinning mouth, zipped down and crashed facefirst in the tree, falling to his back before Sheila. He shook back to his senses and got up. "Dang it, knew I shoulda packed a parachute. I'm not late am I, stopped by at the Quickie Mart to grab this Coffee Candy, gotta say, whaddo people-" He turned and finally noticed the thugs. "YAAAAAAHHH!"

Startled, the beings started trying to shoot him, but the fairy frantically dodged and grabbed Sheila by her tail. "QUICK, let's get outta here!" He flew her away.

"What the heck-"

"My name's Murfy, I'll explain later, let's GOOOO!"

_Stage 6: Toons in Trouble_

_Mission: Follow Murfy into the castle._

_Act ½ _

The fairy flew fast through the forest of giant trees, evading the gunshots of more thugs from the branches. "Watch out for the Hoodlums, kid! Speakin' of which, grab those yellow things, those're Yellow Lums." Sheila did so and grabbed the little energy spheres with wings, letting them disperse into energy inside her form. Hoodlums were coming down on parachutes trying to blast them, but Murfy dodged around them and left Sheila to punch them down. "Oh no, they're taking the Electoons!" Murfy exclaimed, seeing blimps hauling cages onto their decks, containing tiny, pink sphere-like creatures – with faces, blond ponytails, and hands and shoes separate from their bodies. "Those poor little guys! They'll be forced to play harmonicas and eat stale rice pudding! Oh, the toonanity…"

Murfy then had to shift different altitudes to avoid incoming tree branches and Hoodlums on parachutes, followed by wooden walls blocking their path. Hoodlums were now riding by either side of Sheila on hoverbikes, Murfy pulling her upward when they tried to shove, then getting back beside so Sheila can kick them out of the air. "Pull those legs in, Sheila! 'Cause here come the DRAAAAGOOOONS!" A storm of blue, chubby dragons with large chins were flying from ahead, blasting fireballs and attempting to snap them when they passed by. A larger, purple dragon was then charging at them, mouth wide open as it prepared a powerful fire blasts, but Sheila stretched out and began spinning her left leg, charging more light into her foot before sending a mighty Light Kick that forced the dragon's mouth shut, the fire exploding inside, and sent him falling out of the sky.

"Great job, Kid. Tell ya what, I'll reward ya with yer first parachute jump. PARACHUTE NOT INCLUDEEEEED."

Murfy released Sheila and allowed her to drop to the distant ground. She merely spun her tail to lighten her fall, ensuring a safe land on her feet. Murfy then flew down to meet her. "Uwaaaah sorry for the mess, kid. By the way, nice raccoon costume. When does it come off?"

She glared with hands on her hips.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding, just kidding! Ah, look at your face. The name's Murfy, nice ta meet ya. Anyway, I got somethin' you wanna look at: the Manual." He held up a small booklet titled _Guide to_ _Legend of the Seven Lights_, with a picture of two crossing keys. "This guide's got everything you need to know, but I'll go over the basics." He opened and flipped the pages, "Once upon a time, Arceus created many universes, one was outta control, so he had to seal it, blah blah blah BOOORING." He read through very fast. "Okay, so the world's about to end, and the only way to save everyone is find these 20 Keys of Light and Darkness, and the Lights awaken themselves by finding these cubes and reading what's on them, sounds simple enough. Oh-oh-oh, and get this, it says you need the _Firstborn_ to help ya, too."

"But blimey, the Firstborn all went an' scattered!" Sheila yelled. "The Guardians just let them go!"

"Well then I guess you'll just have to find them again." Murfy grinned witfully. "I know your parents enjoyed that the first time, now their kids gotta awaken themselves as Guardians. Geez, why's everyone sleepin' so much, am I right?" He patted her chest. "Oh, uh, by the way I forgot to mention, every action wins ya points. _Let_ me demonstrate: ya see-"

"YEAH YEAH yeah, Ah know what points ah, we do stages all the time."

"Great, then I can save a little oxygen. But just 'cause I'm gettin' paid, I'll walk ya through this stage, anyway. I'll help ya with some puzzles, but don't expect me to break the game like I did in _Rayman Legends_. Just when ya really need it, okay?" (Play "Teensies in Trouble" from _Rayman Legends_.)

_Act 1_

Sheila ventured across a small field of wooden barracks as Hoodmongers popped out, ready to shoot her with rifles. "Okay, Sheila, let's see what ya got. You're the infamous Sunny-Fist, put that fist to good use." Sheila charged her Light Fists and easily knocked them out in one punch, letting the Black Lums fly away. "Bravo, kid, wonderful." Two Hoodbooms stood atop two parallel towers and threw grenades down, blocking with shields when Sheila punched her spheres, but she simply grabbed their grenades and tossed them back to blow them up. "Bravo, Sheila, that's usin' yer noodle."

Sheila Wall Jumped between the two towers to make it atop a wooden wall blocking her path, then hurried down the stairs to a more open field of charging Hoodlums. Sheila spun her two fists and charged huge Light Fists, launching them forward and destroying the swarm in an instant. "Look, kid, I know you're overpowered and all, but try and die it down, we don't want these stages to get boring. Save that strength for the big guns." Sheila proceeded across the field and jumped up a series of wooden platforms with varying heights, having to use Murfy to cut down ropes above so she could swing to distant ones.

_"__Help me."_ A squeaky voice called. Behind one of the wooden towers was a dangling cage, so Sheila punched a Light Sphere to smash it open. A group of Electoons floated to the ground with helicopter hair and grinned happily at their savior. Sheila got to a platform where the space between it and the next was too far, in which Murfy pointed out the switch on a further tower, beyond her vision. But there were so many other towers, Sheila simply punched Light Spheres at different ones until the right ricocheted path would lead it to the switch.

"Hey, who're they calling 'Maddy'? ? Oh wait, that's a different Murphy. Man, we got too many characters with the same name. We got TWO Carols, TWO Jessies, two Emilys, two Sandys, and we even got two Andrews later if ya count André. Don't ya think those'll get confusing later on?"

A bridge appeared for Sheila to cross, bringing her to a catapult pulled back. "Oi, launch me across!" Sheila said, hopping in.

"Don'tcha wanna aim it—oh fine, I'll do it." The catapult seemed aimed at a castle across a river, but Murfy turned the catapult at the small plain beside it. He cut the rope and- "WOOOHOOOOOO!" filled Sheila with that sense of excitement she loved so much. She plopped on her front and scraped across the ground upon landing, face filling with dirt. "PLEAH, pluh!" She spit and wiped the dirt off before marching to the castle's entrance. However, she first noticed a ditch a few feet away, covered by wooden planks, hearing a "Help me" underneath. She smashed through with a Ground Pound and broke another cage, freeing Electoons.

Sheila continued to the castle entrance, but right then, two Hecklers – buff Hoodlums with protective armor – charged out the front gate to start blasting Sheila with their shoulder cannons. She dodged their blasts and punched their armor with her spheres, but they couldn't penetrate. "Okay, maybe it wouldn't kill to be a LITTLE overpowered!" Murfy panicked. Sheila dodged back when the Hecklers threw punches, spinning her fists to charge bigger Light Spheres and blasting both of their armor clean off. They ran separately and tried to shoot back, but Sheila proved much faster as she charged her fists and punched them in the back, forcing the Black Lums from their bodies. After the fly-like creatures retreated, Sheila approached the newly-opened front gate.

"You know, I was told that _Operation: MASKED_ would have sexy fairies with great big," held his hands by his chest, "eh, hair. But instead we got those little snot-nosed twerps to appeal to a younger audience. It's not like we don't have a 7-year-old that f***in' cusses. Ay-ay-ay." He flew in the castle first. Sheila calmly followed as the screen darkened to signal the new act.

_Act 2_

It was much calmer inside and smelled of dust, many cobwebs with spiders lain around, and rats roaming across the floor. Sheila jumped up a few tall steps as Hoodloons; bat-like Hoodlums, flapped down to ram Sheila headfirst, but she could knock them out in just one simple Light Sphere. After jumping up the steps, Sheila grabbed onto a small ledge along a left wall, climbing over a spiked floor with skulls. Once across, Sheila grabbed and climbed a chain up a long shaft where Flameyes – flame spirits with big eyeballs – drifted down slowly, forcing Sheila to navigate around as she climbed, but Murfy also poked some and made them poof. There was also a cage hidden in a hole in the wall, which Sheila punched to free more Electoons.

Sheila made it atop the shaft and viewed a vast chasm with a rotatable platform in the center, which Murfy could grab and turn using a wheel on its bottom. He made one of the ends stop by Sheila's ledge to allow her on. The door on the other side was sealed, with two magic pyramids, blue and yellow, on its sides, requiring two Magic Spheres to be placed on top. Murfy first allowed Sheila to get off on the left path, where a zigzaggy path led across a spiked hall. It shifted off balance toward Sheila's direction wherever she walked, threatening to slide her in the spikes, but she could just jump and regain balance. Across the hall was a blue Magic Sphere which Sheila had to then carry across the tilting path, forcing her to take the many routes it had to shift the balance. Once close enough to the end, she tossed the ball to the safe ledge, then carried it onto Murfy's platform to throw it onto the blue pyramid.

Murfy then lets Sheila off beside the right path, with a river of lava with many rising and sinking pegs. Once again, Sheila could easily jump the pegs and reach the yellow sphere, but in carrying it back, she had to keep an eye out and quickly step onto a nearby rising peg. She made it across and returned to Murfy's platform, throwing onto the yellow pyramid to open the door. "Wait a second, there are TEN Firstborn now? What happened to just Eight? ? Maaan, can this quest be ANY longer?"

Sheila was brought into a narrow, snaky hallway with a series of spikes that just grew taller as the hall drew on. The walls were close enough for Sheila to Wall Jump, having to keep a steady pace across the hall, and above the rising spikes. She saw a cage dangling from the ceiling and jumped her way up to break it open (she assumed the Electoons would be able to land safely between the spikes). She made it onto a safe ledge and entered a wide, round room guarded by a—holy f***, no one could possibly pronounce that. Think I'll just call them Hoodrollers, a chubby, sack-like Hoodlum being rolled around by a small Hoodlum on top, called a Hoodhelper.

Sheila dodged the chubby creature as it tried to flatten her, throwing Light Spheres that only bounced off its belly. She decided to focus on the one rolling it, and jumped up to throw a kick to knock it away. The Hoodroller stood back up and tried to charge Sheila on its own, with the latter being unable to pierce it with punches. As she kept avoiding, she noticed the following door was sealed with an iron "X", which she tried to, but couldn't break with her spheres. So instead, she positioned herself so the door was behind the Hoodroller, then charged a strong enough Light Sphere to send the bulky creature into it, breaking the door down.

She marched into a long, narrow hallway with many obstacles lain in her wake, but none she couldn't take her time going through. But a storm of hisses was heard behind, and she turned to see a swarm of small creatures that looked like Electoons, except they were blue balls with red shoes, pale blue hair, and white gloves. "Holy crud! It's the Doomtoons!" Murfy panicked. "RUN, Sheila, RUN!"

The Doomtoons unveiled big mouths and teeth and began to chase Sheila across the hall. Murfy slid doors open up or down, making Sheila jump or duck, then had to grab rings and swing them up a wall, with Murfy having to lower some so she can reach. She made it to a straight path and ran to a bigger passage where Murfy had to turn more floating planks for Sheila to run on them. She got to solid ground as the path twisted sideways along the left, then right wall, with a river of lava below, then had to jump between vertical wooden platforms on parallel spike walls, with Murfy having to move the platforms in position for her to jump them.

Sheila made it to and dashed up a wall with her Mobian speed, once again jumping between walls when Doomtoons popped out of one, and they flooded the shaft as fast as she ran. The shaft became wider as she ran up a fixed, spiraled path, shooting a sphere at a floating cage with wings. Once near the top of the shaft, she jumped off and grabbed a dangling chain in the ceiling's center. A flushing sound was heard as all the Doomtoons spiraled and sunk like a toilet. Murfy pulled lever on the base of a new hall, extending a bridge over for Sheila to drop on and cross. "Wonderful job, Sheila, the overpowered raccoon shows no limits. Now let's get your grade and progress the story, what's her grade?"

Sheila received 5760 points in the stage and got a B.

"Yeah, fair enough." (End song.)

Murfy and Sheila finally arrived at a pitch-black room with a blank, round pool to their left. Hanging from the ceiling was a cage which Sheila proceeded to punch and break. A slim, black magic hat with a star dropped on the floor. (Play the Opening Theme from _Rayman_.)

The slim hat danced around before a blue, long-nosed creature in a sleek black cloak and red shirt emerged, grinning as a magic wand appeared. "HI, folks! Ya wanna know what's goin' on? Let me tell you the story of RAYMAN!" A magical projection appeared, displaying a vast, magical land with towering mountains (normal ones and candy ones), thick forests, and fields of musical instruments.

_"__In Rayman's World, nature and harmony lived together in peace. The Great Protoon was the source of nature and balance in the worllld."_ The screen faded to a pink, magical sphere with electricity inside, floating in the center of some stone hands.

"Yeah, BORING, right?" the Magician noted. "No way THIS is gonna last."

"Ooh-ooh-ooh! Here comes the best part!" Murfy shook. The screen cut back to the beautiful lands as they became dark and stormy.

_"__Oooone fateful day: the EEEVIL Mr. Dark STEALS the Great Protoon and DEFEATS Betilla the Fairy as she TRIES to PROTECT it!"_ A dark-blue-cloaked figure with yellow eyes, no visible appendages, just floating gloves and shoes, and a round blue hat, held the Protoon in his hand and shocked a fairy girl with lightning.

_"__That is of course… until Rayman kicked his ass!"_ Another figure with separate body parts, white gloves, yellow shoes, purple shirt, and orange rabbit-like hair, punched Mr. Dark away and caught the Protoon. _"But now Mr. Dark has RETURNED, and has teamed up with André the Black Lum to STEAL the Great Protoon again! Oh, and he teamed up with this Ragaj Gnik freak too, but also: The Electoons—who used to levitate around it!—LOSE their magnetic STABILITY and SCATTER all over the WORLLLLD!"_

"But may I just say, Mr. Dark looks sexy in that cloak _cloak cloak cloak."_ Magician's voice echoed. He coughed and shook back to focus. "So uh, basically Mr. Dark and André are trying to take over the Dream World, and their Doomtoons and Hoodlums are going around and locking all the Electoons in cages—OOOOOHH will the horror STOO-O-O-OP?" The image of a cage in a damp dungeon, with sad eyes weeping in its darkness, displayed onscreen. "They DEFINITELY need a hero to save them now! Don't you think? Rayman?" The screen switched to a beach setting with an empty canopy. "RAYMAN?" It then showed a peaceful blue forest, no one there. "RAAAAYMAAAAN!"

"We can't find Rayman anywhere!" Murfy panicked. "All those cages are just sittin' there, locked! What'll we do! If we don't get the Great Protoon back, kids'll never have a happy dream again! OH GOOOD it's-"

"WILL YOU put a sponge in it?" Sheila yelled. "Look, I wanna help ya get yer Proton back, but I kinda got me own business. What's these 20 Keys and where're we gonna find them?"

"Well, I can already tell ya that _you're_ one of these Seven Lights," Murfy noted, reading the manual, "because you awakened yourself at Candied Island. Aaaand uuuuh there's a few other things," flipped pages, "but your main job is helping us save the Protoon. 'Cause like, it's the primary core of the Dream World, and dreaming is a really big thing in this quest. The rest of the things will take care o' themselves."

"Well, okay, I guess I'll help. But I kinda need ta get back to me mates, 'fore they worry."

"Don't worry, you will, but there's a bunch of places we gotta visit in the Dream World first. I think if we visit the Land of Toads, we can get an idea on who some of these other Lights are. But if we wanna progress in the Dream World, we need to save more Electoons, and Mr. Dark actually brought some o' them to the waking world. Magician, can ya give us a hand?"

"Yes Sir!" The Teensie approached a small, round pool and formed a ball of magic in his hands. He let the ball drift into the pool as it zapped into a spiraling portal. "This will take you to the Hall of Doors, where you can access the many lands in the Dream World, or the waking world itself! Mr. Dark's guys have occupied most of the lands and trapped the Electoons in cages. Just break the cages if ya see 'em, and they'll help you open the worlds that Mr. Dark locked. And while you're at it, pick up those little golden Lums along the way. You'll need them to upgrade your powers. Not that you need to, hah ha. So GOOD LUCK!"

Her need for adventure once again sparking, Sheila eagerly dove headfirst into the pool, Murfy following. _"OW!"_ A ding sound.

_"__I shoulda told ya, they've laid a few steel beams here for the construction project. Hehahahahaheh!"_ Murfy grinned sheepishly.

**Vorselon's Warship**

"…" Maddy Murphy lay unconscious on a hard bed, her arms and legs strapped. She awoke and looked tiredly around the pitch-black laboratory. …She assumed it was a lab 'cause of the uncomfy table.

_"__So we meet at last…"_ She looked left at the sound of metal footsteps, a red-eyed being marching close. _"The whiny brat I had to spend the last 5 years spying on. The one who 'as SUCH a problem with 'freaks'. Well… _IS THIS FREAKY ENOUGH FOR YOU? !" He shot directly up to Maddy's face.

"AAAAH!"

"Verily." The skinny blue robot walked away. "To think to accomplish the most brilliant scheme in the world would involve babysitting this snot-nosed kid. It's NOT the kind of work I signed up for."

"Who are you? !"

"_I_… am Doctor Arthur Nefarious." He turned back. "And _you_ are one of the key components in our grand scheme." He approached her again. "So tell me… WHAT ARE YOU HIIIDIIING? !" And yelled in her face.

She shook her head to relieve the pain in her ears. "What are you talking about, I'm not hiding anything! And where are we, anyway?"

"You are in my SHIP." Lord Vorselon spoke, coming out of the darkness. "The ship of LORD VORSELOOON! Where we have taken you to the far reaches of space, MANY parsecs from your home planet!"

"What? ! Are we in Galaxia?"

"Far from it." Nefarious smirked. "We are in the Solana Galaxy. My home region, and specially picked since those snotty Kids Next Door haven't extended this far. Here is where I'll conduct my experiments and extract whatever info I need from you. And you will tell me the secret of your powers… N-N-N-N-N-NOW-" He shook furiously and was about to scream, until the satellites in his head malfunctioned. He froze stiff as a radio transmission played.

_"__Oh, CALCULON! Is it true you are really a vampire?"_

_"__No, Monique. For it is you, who is actually… A WERECAR!"_

_"__NOOO, Calculon."_ Nefarious's butler, Lawrence approached and lightly bonked his master's head. _"It was your half-brother, Boxy. He injected me with this serum of gorilla fur that contained-"_

A harder bonk, and he was back to normal. "Siiigh… look, there's a lot of stuff right now that I don't want to get into, so just tell us what your secret is and we'll be golden."

"Look, I don't _have_ any secrets OR powers. What'm I, some freaky metahuman?"

"Oh, you have SOMETHING inside of you, and I will find it." He turned away. "But let it be known, my methods are not rainbows and lollipops. SAY HELLO TOOO:"

"Not the Hypertronic Brain Scrubulator!" Lawrence shut his eyes.

"-THE HYPERTRONIC BRAIN SCRUBULATOOOR!" Nefarious whipped out a mechanical drill with a glass container and small monitor. "This trinket will extract your brain's juices and SEE what you have to hide! Don't worry, you'll still be alive, just… a bit less intelligent. STAAART IT UP!"

The deadly drill whirred to life as Nefarious carefully loomed it toward Maddy's cranium. The girl desperately tried to shake away, but the cuffs were too tight, and the drill was seconds away from piercing her flesh.

Just then, the doors blew open, and a grenade flew in and exploded on Nefarious's head, making him toss the drill away. "WHAAAAT? !"

A smoke bomb was thrown in, fogging the room as Nefarious was lost from Maddy's vision. A yellow-ish brown, furry catlike alien with green eyes and an armored suit ran in and started plucking Maddy's cuffs loose with a large wrench. "Let's go. This smoke's only good for so long."

"Who are you?" Maddy asked, sitting up.

"I'm Ratchet, we'll introduce each other later. We have to get off this thing, CLANK LET'S GO!"

A small, toy-like robot flipped onto Ratchet's back. "One data file for a Mister Ratchet?" He held a small disk.

"Nice going, buddy."

"Wait, we can't go yet!" Maddy yelled. "Someone else got captured with me."

"We'll save him, here's your stuff." He told her rushedly, tossing her a sack. "Those're your weapons, right? Nefarious had 'em in the corner."

Maddy pulled out a S.C.A.M.P.P.. "Okay. Let's go."

"Oh, poo." Nefarious moped. "I was finally gonna see if this thing was safe for flesh creatures." At this, Lord Vorselon was gone in a flash. (Play "Vorselon's Ship (Fighting the Troops)" from _Ratchet: A Crack In Time_.)

_Stage 7: Starship Vorselon_

_Mission: Save Drake Puncture and break out of the starship!_

Ratchet and Maddy charged down the hall as alarms blared and doors tried to seat them, but Maddy's M.A.R.B.L.E.s and Ratchet's grenades blew them down easily. _"Attention all troops, Dr. Nefarious orders the IMMEDIATE capture of the Lombax and our bratty prisoner! And Lord Vorselon encourages your following that order, for the sake of him not being the Scrubulator's test fleshy! SO GET TO IIIIT!"_ Vorselon thundered.

"So who is that guy?" Maddy questioned.

"Who, Dr. Nefarious? He's just an old coot that's been terrorizing the Solana Galaxy awhile. He disappeared several years ago, but I guess he finally turned up." Ratchet explained. "Which reminds me, why's he after you?"

"Heck if I know. That Vorsetron guy just kidnapped me outta nowhere."

"Well, we'll straighten this out. Let's look for your friend in the prison wing. Qwark, what's it like out there?" he spoke in his wristwatch communicator.

_"Um, Ratchet, just outta curiosity, making like a big crybaby and retreating if things looked scary was an option, right?"_

"NO, Qwark, it WASN'T."

_"I was afraid you might say that. Anyway, don't be mad if I left a little mess on the ship. Gonna find a space-dump now."_

"Siiiigh. Just don't leave us hanging, Qwark."

They breached an armory chamber as swarms of Nefarious Drones began to blast them, in which Maddy began blasting some with a B.A.J.O.O.K.A. and shorting them out. _"Ahh. I'm calcium-intolerant."_ A robot beeped before fainting. Ratchet threw a smoke bomb at a squad, allowing Maddy to jump around and kick all their glass domes. Ratchet caught one's arm in his OmniWrench and swung him into others as its tentacle-arm stretched, and when Maddy grabbed and hurled one to him, he batted it away with the wrench.

The duo proceeded down another hall as the floor gave way in many parts, leaving only small footholds in-between gaps. "Ratchet, those will be much too far to jump." Clank said.

"Maddy, grab onto me, I'll fly us-" However, the Murphy girl easily kicked off the walls to each foothold, getting across in seconds. "You were saying, buddy?" Ratchet hovered across using Clank's helipack, catching up with Maddy in another large room where Microdrones charged at them. The smaller robots were easy to wipe out with Ratchet's wrench and Maddy's M.A.R.B.L.E.s, but they soon had to duck the machineguns of Protomantises from the other side. Even Maddy's B.A.J.O.O.K.A. wouldn't short-circuit them right away, so they had to stay behind the available cover and keep shooting.

Maddy swiftly rolled toward the left robot and kicked his left gun, causing him to shoot the other. When it tried to shoot her again, she fell to her back, kicked up on his guns, and caused him to blast the ceiling, making a chunk fall down and crush him. The group charged into another hall and reached a room with a deep chasm, only a few certain footholds. A bridge led them to a central platform where Drake Puncture was locked in a capsule. "Drake!" Maddy yelled.

"Uuuugh..." Drake woke up. "Boy, whaddid I eat last night. Dreamt we got abducted by aliens."

"Uhhhh... may be a little truth to that. Can we break the cage open?"

"Using bombs might be kinda risky with him in there." Ratchet said. "It looks like three Battery Bots go in those slots. We'll find 'em and let 'im out safely."

They first crossed a left bridge which ended up scrolling vertically, upside-down, and along the walls to a high platform. "You go that way, I'll take this." Ratchet said, using Gravity Boots to defy the gravity of this particular-colored path and walk up and upside-down. He got to the platform and caught a frantic Battery Bot in his wrench, jumping down to the platform and throwing it in one of the slots.

Maddy followed the right bridge to an open area where Splitterbots - Nefarious Drones with buzzsaw hands - spun their blades to life and loomed closer. Maddy flipped and dodged as they stretched their buzzsaws, grabbing one's arm and pulling it against other drones, slicing them in half. _"No fair. I just had this exterior waxed."_ Others kept launching their arms and slicing their allies as Maddy dodged, until there was one left. She rolled to it, dodging its saw when it launched, then spared a smirk before ducking the returning saw, letting it pierce the robot's face.

She faced the frightened Battery Bot and quickly grabbed it, forcing it in a slot. Ratchet took the north bridge to a closed door, but began climbing across a pipe along the right wall. Parts of the pipe were broken and released electricity, making Ratchet wait 'til it stopped, and when the pipes ended, he jumped to a higher, parallel pipe. They eventually brought him to a high foothold in the corner where the last Battery Bot was. He grabbed it and floated back to Drake's platform to finally free him.

The door across the north bridge opened as more Nefarious Drones poured in. "Time for the Drakester to put a hole in things." Drake grinned coolly. He aimed his right, grappler hand and launched, piercing a line of drones and swinging them against the others.

"I am really glad I got picked for Decom.." Maddy said with disbelief. The trio charged into the newly-opened hall and blasted incoming drones.

_"Sir, they've rescued the other prisoner and they're proceeding through the 30th wing."_

"Well, COME ON, Lawrence, THINK of something! Let's see, um... hey MAAADDYYYYY. I've got your favorite CAAAANDYYYY. It's GUMMY Nuts! You go CRAZY over those! Remember when Zach told you there were Gummy Nuts in the yard and you walked into his PIE trap? ! Those were good times, right! Just come and have some so I can do my experiment!"

"Your manner of persuasion is exemplary, Sir."

"Gee, Maddy, that's some stalker you got." Drake said.

"'kay, now I'm officially creeped out." Maddy agreed.

They turned a left corner and encountered some Arc Strikers, Nefarious Troops that launched electrical waves along the floor. Drake launched his grappler, but one of the Strikers defended with electric and shocked Drake across the hook's line. Maddy easily short-circuited them with her B.A.J.O.O.K.A., and the juice allowed Ratchet to freeze them with his CryoMine Glove. A door opened behind the robots, exposing the empty space. "Qwark, are you still out there? ?" Ratchet called.

_"__Heh heh, funny story Ratchet, I actually got lost while trying to follow the ship and I accidentally started attacking a giant ice cream cargo ship. They got a little peeved, heheh. Um, trying to locate you guys, now."_

"Siiiigh. Alright, Maddy, Drake, put these on." He tossed them air helmets. "We'll try to hide on the side of the ship." They stepped beyond the oxygen barrier and progressed along the path on the side of the ship. A couple of smaller ships flew by and destroyed the path, blowing the trio off. "WHOOOOAA!"

"Quick, hold tight!" Drake grabbed Maddy's hand, and she grabbed Ratchet, before the former used his harpoon hand to latch a peg sticking from the ship, pulling them to it. He released as the momentum and low gravity sent them a few meters across the side, where Drake could pull them to another peg flinging them downward and under the ship, then pulled them to another peg on its bottom. There, they tried to take a firm stance and move across the bottom.

Laser turrets emerged, which Drake shot with his harpoon and Maddy with B.A.J.O.O.K.A. (causing juice to float in the low gravity), while water also emerged from a pipe, joined by a flushing sound. _"Hooooooo. Lord Vorselon will watch the amount of chili burritos he consumes."_ The trio soon made it to a hatch on the bottom and climbed in, reverting right-side-up and removing their helmets. They passed a narrow hall and shot through more Nefarious Drones before the hall became wide, with a series of horizontal energy bars scrolling up over a dark chasm.

"Perhaps we should go up." Clank suggested.

"Really, buddy, what makes you say that?"

"Excuse me for trying to hold onto classics, Ratchet. Mm hm he he he."

The trio gripped and swung across the bars before they went too high and vanished. Each set of bars scrolled up between parallel poles which ended at certain points where the bars vanished, but other parallel poles were stationed on higher parts and allowed a new set of beams to scroll higher. At the moment, the team could only swing to an opening across the chasm, but this only brought them to a dead end. Thankfully, the walls were close enough for them to Wall Jump and reach a higher set of beams, proceeding to swing across again. At the end of this new path, they held on the last beam as it scrolled up to bring them to a higher set, where they could swing across and reach the new pathway.

_"__Come on, Maddy, PLEASE come back!"_ Nefarious cried. _"Remember all the good TIIIMES you had? Look! I even have your baby pictures! You were so CUUUUUTE in that little diaper. If you let me examine your brain, you'll get to review ALL of those good times! It's only one small scrubulation! COME BAAAACK!"_

"I hope there's galactic authorities in this region!" she yelled.

They appeared above a wide room with several barred pipes within the walls, and two platforms with screws on them, one taller than the other. Before they could stare too long, a door slammed shut on their ledge and forced them to the room's floor the same time as Protomantises marched out and began blasting. "Alright, you guys hold 'em off, we'll look for a way out." Ratchet said as he hurried to a nearby round corridor. He climbed onto a platform with what seemed like a boat and a screw, which Ratchet latched with his OmniWrench and began turning. Once the screw sank down, some water flowed and flooded the room partway, and Maddy immediately began to panic when the liquid raised her by her waist.

"AAAAAAHH! HEEEL- _pb-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl."_ She quickly submerged and couldn't regain control.

"Hold on now." Drake dove in and grabbed her arm around his head, swimming to the cavern where Ratchet & Clank were. He quickly stepped onto their platform and laid Maddy down as she gasped for breath.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked.

"She's got the Sonic Condition."

"The what now?"

"She don't like water."

"Why did you do that? !" she screamed. "I can't get across this room now!"

"I do not see the problem. I am a robot and I have no quarrel with water." Clank said.

"I am NOT swimming in that! !"

"Well, we've got a boat right here. Might as well use it." Ratchet figured.

They pushed the rowboat on the water and helped Maddy on, rowing it across the water instead. Unfortunately, the Protomantises and Protoguards set their selves on buoyant platforms and kept firing, with Drake having to latch them with his harpoon and yank them in the water. _"No. Please. I just ate-"_ One said before Drake pulled him in. They rowed over to another cavern with a higher platform, formerly too high to reach, but with the raised water, Ratchet could hop on and turn the screw.

The water raised another foot, so the team rowed back out and fended off flying Microdrones. They were now high enough to reach the first of the two pillars in the room, where Ratchet turned the next screw and raised the water. This time, some Splitterbots flew out and launched buzzsaws that destroyed their boat, so the three frantically jumped and grabbed the ledge around the side of the second pillar. Maddy kept her grip tighter than the others as they climbed around the spiral ledge to reach the top. The Splitterbots still had their aim on them, so Clank fired mini lasers from his antenna and shot them in the water. "Those were 1 million Bolts I still don't regret. Mm hm he he he." He remarked.

Once atop the platform, Ratchet turned the screw and opened a hallway on a nearby ceiling corner. Some drones flew out to stop them, but they easily used the drones as platforms to hop to the cave. The three exchanged victorious smirks, but panicked when the water continued rising. It continued rising throughout the hall, so the trio ran through quickly. They first hopped a trio of platforms to a narrow path that curved right, and afterwards hopped a few stairs just before the water reached their feet.

They had to Wall Jump between two close walls over a long chasm, seeing the water rising below them, making it hard for Maddy to focus. She kept her balance until they reached the end and ran up a slope that curved right. Before them was another long hall where the path continued several stories above the end wall, so they had to grab the ladder-made wall and climb up, in which the ladder made several zigzaggy turns to impede their progress, while they also had to alternate walls when their current ladder ended.

But when they made it to the top, it was merely a small platform overlooking a corridor beneath them, which was already flooding. "Whaddo we do now? !"

"We're going for it." Drake stated, taking Maddy's hand while Ratchet took her other. "Hold on tight, guys!" He fired his harpoon into the room at the end of the passage and pulled them under the water and into the room. They held their breath as strong as they could as Ratchet grabbed the screw in his wrench and struggled to swim around and turn it. Maddy was already frozen stiff and practically lifeless, so Drake knew she wouldn't be any help in turning this screw. Thankfully, Ratchet's task was accomplished as the door to the hall sealed, and the water slowly drained out of their chamber.

They were all quick to gasp for breath, Maddy especially, before the next door slid open and allowed them entry out. They climbed a short ladder to a hall that led them to a wide, circular room. (End song.)

"I don't know what you kids do for a living on your planet, but it's clearly enough to hold your own." Ratchet said as they took time to catch their breath. "Now there's apparently an airlock a few floors up, hopefully Qwark comes by the time we get there, then we'll be Scott free."

"Bwa ha ha! And what makes you say THAT?" A giant, two-headed robotic dog dropped from the ceiling, Lord Vorselon beside it. "Dr. Nefarious still has experiments, Human Maddy! And he will carry them out!"

"What does Nefarious want me for, anyway?"

"Bwa ha! Lord Vorselon will NEVER tell you we are searching for the 20 Keys, based on Lord Gnik's orders! Nor will he tell you about the other villains we have aligned with!"

"Lord Gnik? Other villains?"

_"VORSELON, you dope, it's LESSER LORD Gnik!"_ Nefarious proclaimed. _"UM, I mean... no, we know no one by that name! Now about those Gummi Nuts..."_

"Sorry, Nefaro, but the Drakester has fooled you good!" Drake grinned, his teeth sparkling.

"You did nothing." said Maddy and Ratchet.

"Ooooo! How DARE you make a fool of Lord Vorselon! He will make you pay for such insolence, with PAIN! Attack them, Dao Dog!"  
><em><br>"RAAAAARRRR!"_ The group readied to battle the two-headed dogbot. (Play Egg-Cerberus' theme from _Sonic 2006_.)

_Boss fight: Dao Dog_

The dog hopped to the other side of the room and launched electric spheres from both of its mouths. Drake dodged forward and fired his harpoon at the left head, but it dodged aside and stretched that head over to snap Drake, but he jumped back. Ratchet tossed grenades at their heads as he ran beside Drake, the two taking aim at a head and shooting their Swingshot and harpoon. They caught both tongues of the dog and played tug-o-war with it. "MADDY, you're up!" Ratchet yelled.

The Murphy girl rushed up to the dog's tail and grabbed ahold, and Dao Dog immediately felt this as he flung Ratchet and Drake away and began to run around. He wagged his tail furiously to fling her off, but ended up throwing her right onto his back, clutching onto a wire like a strand of fur and hanging on further. It was like riding a bull at the rodeo, but the sensation was familiar to Maddy in some way, so hanging on was no hassle. "What are you DOING, Dao Dog? !" Vorselon shouted when the dog finally seemed to submit. Maddy made it charge to the wall, jump, and perform a series of large Wall Jumps around the circular room. A huge container of electrical energy was hanging over the center via four beams, so Maddy made the dog jump headfirst into the container and drop off before it endured a horribly painful shock. "Lord Vorselon KNEW the rodeo function was a bad idea! He would like to speak to the fool responsible."

_"__It was YOUR idea, DUMMY!"_

The dog kicked out of the container and landed itself on the walkway around the second floor. Several platforms came down for the three heroes to jump their way up when the room began to flood with electric energy. Dao Dog blasted energy spheres as the trio made their ascent, but he wasn't the best at aiming with the spark in his brains now. They had to swing Swingshot targets and bounce a few spring platforms, eventually making it onto the walkway. Dao Dog jumped and perched itself on the platform where the electric container hung from, and the four beams connected to each corner of this walkway. He began to shoot electric spheres at certain parts of the walkway so they split into two, and went opposite ways around the path to shock the heroes.

They couldn't go onto Dao Dog's platform without him blasting them, and latching grapplers on him would be too risky if he yanked them into the pit. Each of the four beams were connected to large screws on the walkway, so Ratchet proceeded to go around and unscrew them while Maddy shot the robot with her B.A.J.O.O.K.A.; juices makes robo-dogs short-circuit for a few seconds, apparently. They avoided the spheres and distracted the dog enough for Ratchet to unhook all the screws and cause the platform to fall. The dog plummeted to the electric pool below and took the shock. "Brr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. Dao Dog: activate the REAR boosters!" announced Vorselon. Two rockets activated on Dao Dog's rear as it flew up from the pool and took off down a large, wide tunnel near the ceiling. A series of grind-rails came down when the ship shook, so the trio began to ride them after the dog.

There were three parallel rails for each of them, but Dao Dog fired electric spheres from the distance that whooshed across the rails, forcing them to jump to other ones. The rails were also collapsing behind them, so if they slowed down, they would surely fall. The tunnel became pretty snaky, therefore the rails did too, but it eventually dropped them into another circular room. Many Nefarious Drones ambushed them, launching buzzsaws and lasers as the trio dodged, while Dao Dog hopped to the other side of the room. The robots seemed to keep piling in as they searched around for a way to destroy the dog.

"Ratchet, there are two Battery Bots in that container up there." Clank pointed to a glass container above the other side of the room. "Perhaps we could use them to power the electromagnet." And hanging just over the room, a giant magnet.

"Okay, I'LL get 'em down." Maddy fearlessly rushed up to the robot as it snapped its fangs. When both heads lunged, she slid underneath, grabbed onto the tail, and let the robot fling her to its back as she began to bull-ride it again. Running around the room caused him to smash a lot of the smaller robots, before Maddy finally had him tamed and screeched to a halt on the opposite side from the capsule. She made him face up at the capsule, run forward, and leap to chomp both ends in its mouths to pull it down. The Battery Bots were free when the capsule shattered, so Ratchet and Drake ran to grab one and shove them both into a slot on either side of the room. The magnet buzzed to life as Dao Dog looked up curiously, but Maddy was already off his back when it flew up and stuck to the magnet like glue.

Vorselon came in to check the battle, panicking when both Dao Dog and the magnet began to short-circuit. "NO! That magnet is experimental! Lord Vorselon hasn't yet perfected it to pull the caps off pickle jars, its intended purpose." He fiddled around with a remote to make the dog shake furiously.

Electricity was sparking all around both machines, until the magnet fell off its latch with Dao Dog with it. "Uh-oh." Right to Vorselon no less, as the hunter was smashed under the crumbling scrap. His capsuled head flew off safely, bouncing on the floor as he switched on a rocket and shot for the exit. The door was already closing at this time, so his capsule got stuck, shaking around a little before he shot inside and the door closed. (End song.)

"Okay, Mad, we'll officially sign you up for the rodeo." Drake said as they stared at Dao Dog's smashed body.

"Eh, it's not a bad idea. Can we get outta here now?"

"The airlock's right over there." Ratchet pointed to the door under the Battery Bots' capsule. "Quick, let's go before more-" They heard Vorselon's door open as a far larger swarm of robots marched in, ready to saw or melt them.

"Should've expected this cliché trap." Drake said as the trio backed against the airlock.

"Qwark, we can really use your HELP right now!" Ratchet cried into his wristwatch.

_"__I'm almost there, Ratchet, but don't exactly know where you're located!"_

But it was then Maddy felt a strange sensation. She turned to the hatch behind them, and as everything turned dark, she could see a small, distant aura beyond the wall, headed their way. "I do! You're coming right toward us, just stay as you are!"

"How do you know this, Maddy?" asked Clank.

"I…I don't know, I just see his aura somehow."

"Oh my God, Maddy's an aurabender! !" Drake exclaimed.

"I am NOT, I just… I don't know what it is, I just see him!"

"We may only have precious seconds to land in Aphelion before your heads implode. Can we trust Maddy's judgment?" Clank asked.

Ratchet was only panicking at the approaching buzzsaw-bots. "Better than having no brain to judge with, LET'S GO!"

Ratchet slammed his hand on the button to the side as the hatch flew open. "WHOOOOOOOAAAA!" They shot out the lock like a vacuum and fell into the endless darkness, but a ship zoomed by and caught them in its cockpit.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Nefarious shook with great rage. "That Qwaaaaarrrrrrk I'm gonna tear his fleshy limbs off next time I see him, MARK MY WORDS I'LL-"

A toilet flush was heard in the next room as water came flowing out. "Um, Sir? The pipes are backed up again. Shall I fetch the Plumber?"

"Ugh…"

The team of Ratchet, Clank, Mad and Drake were upside-down and bunched atop each other in the back seat. "Nice save with the Aphelion, Qwark." Ratchet said.

"There was never any worry, Ratchet." The muscular superhero in the green and black jumpsuit grinned. "True heroes ALWAYS show up very late on the scene!"

They rolled back right-side-up, "Yeah, not as late as Aquaman stopping some mugger on the beach." Drake said.

"So tell me," Qwark smiled coolly, "is _this_ the little lady captured against her will for Nefarious's gain?"

"Um… yeah?" Maddy replied nervously.

"There's no need to fear anymore, Little Girl," he assured, wrapping his muscular arm around Maddy's head, "because from this point on, Captain Copernicus Leslie Qwark will protect you! The atrocities and horrors you might've witnessed on that ship," he squeezed her closer, speaking with an emotional tone, "I will not rest until every ounce of that precious little soul of yours is cured!"

Ratchet and Clank exchanged weird glances at his weeping. "What kind of galaxy do we LIVE IN where such horrible men can just KIDNAP little girls and do whatever with them! The nerve of that Dr. Nefarious, robbing a sweet innocent of her childhood! Well, _I_ will defend this child with my life, or MY name isn't Copernicus Leslie- QOUII!" Maddy finally kicked him in the gut.

"Another second under that armpit and YOU would've ruined my childhood! Just take us back to Earth so we can back to our next-to-normal lives."

"Earth, right! Uuuuh, and which quadrant was that?"

"I dunno… Milky Way?"

"If such an area exists, it is not within our data maps." Clank replied. "I fear Dr. Nefarious may have taken you farther than we anticipated."

"Well, don't you alien guys like, pick up signals or something?" Drake asked. "Hang on, I'm gonna try and call my sector." He tapped his wristwatch communicator, but it only showed static. "Huh… bad reception."

"If your technology is mainly limited to your planet, receiving a signal this far out will be impossible. Perhaps we may find something of use on one of the nearby planets."

"Here's one! Peoples α." Qwark responded, viewing his terminal. "The planet of gangs, thugs, and hustlers. Where every morning tune's a rap song, and every sport's a street race where the wages are high."

"That planet is the home to many stolen ships and materials." Clank said. "Surely we may be able to find an intergalactic radio antenna. With it, we could probably link signals of distant galaxies to your communicator, thereby contacting your home planet."

"Plus, it'll be easier to hide from Nefarious's troops among the crowd." Ratchet noted.

"Then Peoples α it is." Maddy decided. "Let's contact Earth quick before my brother gets worried. …And before he starts snooping around my diary."

**Somewhere on the sea**

"Ahhhh… the salty air smells great." Danny Jackson sighed, leaning over the rail of a 4x4 ship. "Glad we can finally enjoy it with those pirates gone. Don'tcha think so, Mel?"

His aforementioned sister was curled on the deck in a fetal position, hair a mess and eyes frantic. "We're a-all gon-na die, all go-onna di-ie…"

"Sheesh, Mel, lighten up." Eric told her. "If anyone should be afraid, it's me. I couldn't even get my shirt out of a tree branch, but you're the toughest waterbender I know! And the prettiest. Except for your mom—in both genres—but still-!"

"Mel, Cheren said it was going to be okay." Danny told her assuringly. "That we just have to build up our skills and find these 20 Keys, wherever the heck they are. But I think you're getting too hyped on it. Why don't we go for a swim, nice soak on our skin will get the thought out of our heads! And it wouldn't hurt to practice waterbending."

"Siiigh… maybe you're right. Seeing the fishies so carefree might relieve my stress." Melody smiled.

"THAT'S the spirit, Mel!" Eric perked. "Now I remembered to pack your swimsuits, Melody I wasn't sure which one you preferred, so I packed-" But when he turned around, they had already splashed in the sea, only their shoes and socks left behind. His communicator rang, so he answered.

_"__Way ahead of you, Er, but thanks for the offer."_ Melody noted.

"Siiiigh." Eric really wanted to see her in that cute white bikini.

The duo swam far below the surface, swimming fast along the current and keeping their breath thanks to their waterbending. They found swarms of fish and sea creatures, who seemed totally carefree beneath these calm cool waves that reflected the sun's gleaming light. Needless to say, the worry was lifted from their minds and souls. It was so peaceful under the sea. These fish had no worries… and neither did they. They reminded them there was still hope in the universe, and there was still a chance.

Eric stared dreamily at the sea, just thinking how happy Melody must be right now. But his eyes widened at a growing, shining object falling from the heavens.

Melody and Danny stopped their swimming to answer a call from Eric. _"Mel, Danny, quick! Get outta there, there's something coming!"_

Confused, they looked up when the sun seemed to be shining brighter. …Wait… that was no sun… "OH MY GOD! !" Melody screamed, immediately swimming away with Danny at breakneck speed, spinning their arms like propellers. The shining object splashed in the sea and erupted an enormous explosion. Melody and Danny tried to evade the shockwave of seafloor sand, but ended up blown away.

Just as well, the explosion created an incredible wave that sent the ship miles across the sea, with Eric hanging on tight. "MELODYYYY_YYY…"_

The area under and above the surface became swallowed in smoke following the explosion. From the sky, the resulted cloud of smoke shaped like a tremendous pie. As it slowly cleared, a mechanical ship sailed in the fog, a voice sounding from its megaphone. _"This is a message to all morsels who dare dwell on the sea. Your realm is now under the command of Sheldon J. Plankton: THE GREATEST GENIUS ON EARTH! You have had but a small taste of my arsenal of homemade Pie Bombs. Submit to my rule or have your whole ocean a WASTELAND of FIRE AND CHERRY!"_

**Mansion Under the Sea**

"EEEEEHH heh heh heh heh heh heyyyy! Alright, now let's blow up the Gulf of Mexico!" Plankton said eagerly, crossing a sea off his list.

"Ooooo hoohoohooo! Brilliant plan, Plankton!" laughed the Dirty Bubble, a large brown bubble with evil eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth. "Pretty soon the sea'll be too polluted for those fish to live!"

"And it will be all _ours_ to command." Manray, a man in a red jumpsuit, blue boots and gloves, and a blue mask with red eyes and teeth, grinned evilly. "_Sooooo_ deliciously evil."

"Yeah, maybe… but just where do you plan to live afterwards?" asked Dennis, a green Fishman bounty hunter in a cowboy uniform, red bandana, sunglasses, black boots, and black cowboy hat.

"Relax, we'll filter all the poison 'soon as all these sea dogs know who's boss." Plankton answered calmly. "Besides, the people of Oceana will fall head-over-heels once they get a taste of… _our secret recipe_!" He grinned evilly as he hopped over to a huge safe, squeezed inside the tiny lock, and cracked it open. The safe revealed a tall, thin stairway with a single, tiny bottle seated on a table on top. "Mr. Krabs' Secret Formula to the fabled Krabby Patty! It took over 25 years, but he's FINALLY caved in! And enjoying his special stash by the look of it."

"Heehee hee! Heehee hee!" They looked in an alternate room with piles of gold coins, where Mr. Krabs was joyously throwing them around. "Ohhh, Plankton! Normally I would NEVER sign a deal with you… but blimey, without me a fry cook, me restaurant was about to go under! I dunno how I managed to last that long without one…"

"You had the gusto to last, Eugene, but in the end, it's genius that conquers the world. And with the combined power of all my fellow geniuses, THE UNIVERSE WILL TASTE OUR FOOD! Ahhhh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. What's the status of our robo troupe?"

_"__Robots are progressively covering all shores on the European and Canadian coasts, the Americas are facing trouble due to the opposing armies."_ Briefed Karen, Plankton's W.I.F.E.. _"But Plankton, I still don't think these cohorts of yours can be trusted."_

"What, you mean these guys, of course they can! We understand each other, right?" Plankton gestured putting an arm around Manray.

"As long as you're not speaking gibberish, sure!" grinned Dirty Bubble.

_"__Not THEM, I mean Lord Gnik and those other guys. There's something weird about him, Plankton, I just can't put my hard-drive on it."_

"It's Lesser Lord, Dear, and don't worry! Evil plans with fellow multi-world evil-doers haven't gone wrong before."

_"__Yes, except-"_

"DON'T MENTION _Nicktoons Unite_!"

_"…__Nicktoons: Globs of Doom."_

"Ho boy."

**Unknown base, forest area**

The helicopter carefully took land inside a hatch that opened on the ground. Jessie, James, and Meowth led the handcuffed Mika into a small chamber with a large TV screen. "Ooooo wait until the boss sees that we caught her!" Jessie squealed with glee. "Our promotion is in the bag!"

"Yeah! And the Boss will make ME Top Cat again!" Meowth grinned.

"I don't get it, Meowth, were you ever?" James asked.

"Hey, you got your special beliefs, I got mine, so let's leave it at that!"

"What is this like a sooper exclusive tea party or something?" Mika asked.

"You'll see once we get there." confirmed Jessie. "We just have to call the Boss and let 'em know we're on our way!"

With that, Jessie typed in a code as the static on the TV began to clear. "Great news, Mr. Giovanni! We captured the psychicbender, Mika without trouble!"

A shadowed man petting his Persian, sitting on a chair with one leg over his other could be seen. _"Jessie and James, is it. Captured the Logia psychicbender who was deemed the Heiress of Madness? What sort of tomfoolery is this? !"_

"Er… Well, it's no tomfoolery, Sir. She's right here." James brought the woman up closer.

"Um, I got a few comments about that 'nickname'." Mika furrowed her eyes. "First off… AWESHUUUUUUM!"

_"…__? ! This is impossible! How could YOU blundering buffoons have captured her?"_

"Well, these blundering buffoons have a few hidden talents." Jessie winked.

"And very _keen_ manners of persuasion." smiled James.

"Plus those chi-cuffs you gave us sure did help!" perked Meowth.

Mika studied her cuffs, not seeing any chi symbols. She lit a small pink light in her palm a brief second. _"Hmph. I'll play along with your trick for now. And assume this is the woman that trained under my creation."_

"His creation?" said Mika quietly. "Does he mean… Mewtwo?"

_"__I will send a transport to carry Mika back to our hideout. You three on the other hand must stay there and man the forces in that world. And this woman had better not be some impostor, or you will be facing the rough end of the claws."_ He switched off.

**Chariton Household**

Sunni Chariton threw many items into two backpacks, throwing one to Darcy while she slipped the other on her back. "Sunni, I still don't know about this. If Mom let herself get caught, maybe she's trying to do something."

"Even if that's true, Mom promised to train me, and I can't wait anymore. We're going to help her with whatever she's doing, and I know only one other person that can train us. So let's go." She was marching out the door first.

Both girls climbed in their dad's car as he drove them to the pier. They parked and rented a small yacht, ready to ship off to sea. "Where're you kids going again?" the bearded, one-eyed captain asked.

"He'll take us." Rainier assured. They walked to the front of the deck, where someone was balanced on one foot on the water. "Ready to go, Lucario?"

His eyes were closed, fists touched together. "Yes. Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>Adventures are happening all around. I bet you all are overwhelmed. Well, just look at me. Next time, we'll have yet to get on with it. ;P Later.<strong>


	6. Pleasure To Make Your Acquaintance

**Never trust anon notes.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Set Forward to Destiny! Cheren Meets His Secret Admirer!<em>**

**Cleveland Beach**

When a giant warship suddenly drives up onto the shore, you wouldn't expect the beach to be very populace after that. An hour later, it was almost completely empty, Chad, Emily, Violet, and Scarlet examining its barrenness. "Well, I sure don't _see_ 'em here." Scar remarked.

"Well, then he's probably at Timmy and Hikari's house." Chad said surely. "Just call 'em and see how 'e's doing."

"One problem." Emily replied, already on the cellphone. "Timmy and Hikari apparently haven't come home, yet. Our only other options are Kuki or Sammy's houses."

The four looked as Vi and Scar's daughters, Lilac and Berry, scampered over on all fours. "We can't find Ruppy anywhere!" Lil yelled. "But Berry found a starfish."

"Mmmp-…BLEEEH." Berry indeed barfed a starfish with some sand.

"Ruppy didn't get eaten by DOGGIES, did he?" Lil asked with big watery eyes.

"Don't worry, Lilac." Violet assured. "Rupert's not an ant, he couldn't just be eaten without a trace."

"Beg to differ." Chad eye-rolled.

"Uh!" Emily smacked his chest. "Maybe he's in the cabin of some WOODSMAN! Doing non, woodsy stuff… that would scar a child for life! !"

"Well, how 'bout me and Vi look around the woods and try to find him." Scarlet offered. "Nothing can sneak up on us. And there's plenty of grub." She licked her lips.

"And Lilac? How 'bout _you_ two look around Cleveland and see if they're here!" Violet smiled.

"We WILL, Mommy!" the brown cat pounced.

"We'll sniff 'em out like little tuna." Berry smirked deviously.

"Then I'm taking the skies." Emily said, about to walk off. "Chad, go home in case Rupert's already there."

"Gladly. Anything but play hide-and-seek with Ashland's MOM Association." the father said smugly.

"GRRRRR!" Scar touched a claw to his neck.

"We moms should've handled this to begin with, 'cause Pariah knows YOU can't be trusted!" Emily stated.

"YOU'RE PRAYING TO THE GHOST KING NOW?" all three said with slanted heads.

"YOU GET MY POINT! ! The four of you just, start looking around, I'll also call the other parents, and Chad, GET THE HELL HOME! !"

Emily turned and took a small breath to relieve the stress. Thrusting her arms to either side, the bluish-white ring of light encased her body, transforming her into a pale-skinned phantom with flaming orange hair. She took to the skies that were slowly changing from blue to orange. "…You know, she doesn't even need that form to be scary." Chad noted. Scarlet decided to kick him off his feet before the catgirls headed off.

**Quahog; James Woods Elementary**

Sector V's C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. came in for landing beside the school's playground as Dillon was already frantic to greet them. "Guys, you made it! I was going to call you, there's trouble!"

"What happened?" Aurora asked. "Place looks like a war happened here."

"Kind of. Maddy and Drake Puncture got kidnapped by aliens!"

"Huh? ! What aliens?"

"I dunno, this little green thing inside a robot, had a bunch of other robots with him. They were apparently working for some 'Dr. Nefarious' guy."

"Dr. Nefarious?" Harry questioned. "Sounds like a villain from some Saturday morning cartoon."

"Wait, I remember Cheren showing me a report from Sector IC." Aurora replied. "Some 'Dr. Nefarious' was trying to ruin Christmas."

"But what would he want with Maddy or Drake?" Haruka asked.

"Wait a second, what about Zach?" Chris asked. "Where's he, anyway?"

"Heeee…" Dillon looked around. "He was here a while ago. Huh…"

**Somewhere in space**

"This is Captain Yellow Shirt, checking to see if all systems are a-go." A yellow-shirted boy asked from his captain's seat.

"This is Green Shirt, engines are stable!"

"Lieutenant Blue Shirt reporting, lasers are ready."

"Commander Black Shirt, over here! Our shields are up and- Wait, isn't Commander higher up than Captain?"

"Senior Red Shirt, ready to sacrifice when unnecessary!"

"Starship Zachstar," Yellow Shirt spoke, "get ready for LIGHT speed!"

The "Starship Zachstar" was in fact Zach Murphy converted into a human-sized spaceship, with rocket shoes. "$2.50 an hour with an extra porridge bowl, I say good truckin'." And so, he flew for the stars.

**Back at Quahog**

"Anyway, we were heading to Mr. King's house to ask what he knew about these 20 Keys." Aurora mentioned. "Maybe we can ask Sector IC about this Nefarious, too."

Dillon boarded the bus and took a seat next to Mason and Sheila's. As they took off for Iceland, Dillon noticed the raccoon fast asleep on her back. "What happened to her?"

"I dunno, she just conked out. Went through a wild song stage, though."

"Hey, wanna draw on her?" Dillon grinned evilly.

"Hehehe, yeah!"

**Uno Household**

Cheren's items were packed and stuffed in the trunk of his R.O.A.D.S.T.A.R.. His rectangular box with the purple gem switch had only three items: his Three Sacred Treasures. He was eager to hop in the driver's seat as his mom came to see him off. "You sure you wanna go to Oregon by yourself? Random notes from secret admirers are the kinda stuff you should bring back-up for."

"That's not what the note asked for, Ma." He smiled coolly. "And you should know by now I can handle myself."

"Yeah, and things went swell the last time." She shook her head in disbelief. "But considering all the chaos…"

"Well, since you're so worried," he scribbled something on a small paper, "I'll give you this." He let it flutter to his mom as she looked at it. "I don't call in, say, 48 hours, you can send a rescue party. A'ight?" A wink.

She smiled brightly and stuffed it down her cleavage, "Fair deal! Good luck, Soldier. And watch out for all the rogues."

"Hehehe! Says my ma to the Hero of Time." He hopped in his driver seat.

"Hee hee ha ha! Have a steaming cherry pie when you get hoooome!" His racecar was already speeding across the country.

What would take people ages to get across on foot, it took Cheren only an hour. He loved having his own racecar. Just kicking back while the great rush of wind kept his hair behind him. All he needed was a pair of sunglasses, though the way the sun sparkled off his glasses looked pretty cool. But he put on a look of confusion when it appeared some blue-haired girl was running alongside his left. He lowered his glasses, "Uhhh… hey there?"

"Oh? Sorry!" The girl smiled sheepishly. "This isn't your road, is it? I was just out on one of my daily runs."

"Uhhhh… I see that." At 100 miles per hour, clearly. "You like running, do ya?"

"Yup! It gets me places faster!"

"Heheheh! Yeah, it does! On to an important meeting."

"Ah, that's life for ya. Well, I won't keep you. So long!" She shifted a different way.

"Great talkin' to ya!"

"You too! Byyyye!"

So Cheren faced forward with his cool smile. "Well-p, Cheren, gotch yourself another one. Gooood goin'."

Cheren made it within Oregon's borders and parked a few miles from his destination. "Just so I don't look like I'm comin'. Well, not entirely." He hopped out, popped open the trunk, and got his box. "Three Sacred Treasures ACTIVATE!" He smacked the gem and plopped the box open, letting the Light Arrows, Mirror Shield, and Master Sword beam on his form.

His loyal assistant, Fi jumped out. _"Master, the city of Roguetown is just miles in your wake. I encourage a safe journey for you, and know that I will be around when you need me."_

"Gotcha, Fi. No reason to stop now." She flew back into the sword. He wore an eager smirk and faced the grassland before him. "Let's go!" (Play the Rogueport Theme from _Smash Bros. 4_!)

_Stage 8: Roguetown Road_

_Mission: Go to Roguetown Station!_

Cheren Uno dashed across the road as enthusiastically as a 9-year-old should. More ready than ever to take on the trials ahead and stop this wretched Apocalypse. He never felt more energetic, more willing to believe that anything is possible. If he still kept all this Apocalypse business to himself, he wouldn't feel this energetic. But now everyone knows, and all his friends can fight to stop it. He knew they could because of Sheila's unbreakable spirit, and if she had the spirit to face inevitable doom, so would he!

A pair of trucks sped up from the road ahead and blocked his path as a gang of Goombas hopped out, charging to attack him. Cheren eye-rolled humorously. He was glad the government offered a piece of land for some Mushroom denizens to live after the Firstborn Quest, but they couldn't let strangers come by casually. He raised his sword and sliced down any Goombas trying to rob him, the simple enemies no match for his skill. He shot down Paragoombas with his bow and bounced Spiny Goombas back with his Mirror Shield. With the creatures dealt with, he ran past the left of the trucks and followed a grassland downhill.

Some Koopa Troopas curled in their shells and spun at him, but he flipped and dodged before tossing M.A.R.B.L.E.s with his M.U.M.B.L.E.R.. A few of them recovered, but Cheren tossed his Bananarang to knock them dizzy, catching his toy and running forward. Many rocks were blocking his path, but not for long, as he would blast them all away with his M.A.R.B.L.E.s. He ended up wandering into a rocky trench, where a series of wobbly platforms led across. He wished he had his Kateenian Mask, but oh well, as he leaped across each one and let it crumble, moving too quick for it to kill him.

The last platform had nowhere else, but Cheren saw some branches overhead with vines, tossing his Bananarang to cut the vines down so he could swing across, just before the platform fell. The vines listed upward, where Cheren eventually grabbed hold of a tree branch and swung around and around. He launched upward and flew like a bird, or a hawk as he threw open his sail to glide to the ledge ahead. He landed perfectly and skipped forward with no fear on his mind, not even the beings peeking at him from behind rocks.

A band of Shy Guy Bandits came running out in the hopes of robbing him of his valuables. He tried to dodge them, but they came fairly quick, and he was shoved to the ground with several items dropped. "HEY, give those back!" They ran off with his Bananarang, Pirate Sail, and Hookshot, so he chased them furiously. The one with his Bananarang was snickering wickedly, but tripped and allowed Cheren to swipe it back, knocking him out. He looked at the one with his Hookshot and launched his boomerang to claim it and bring it back, smirking as he pulled the Bandit over with it to knock him out. He looked as the third Bandit flew overhead with his sail, but could simply pull him down with the Hookshot and hurl the Bandit down the hill before reclaiming his sail.

With that, he continued his carefree run to the town as it inched bigger and bigger the closer he got. He spotted two shops that were just across from each other, a Bob Evans and small pawnshop. "Eh, got time to grab a bite." He rushed into the restaurant. "One triple large pancake with some fries please."

_30 minutes later_

"Ahhhhh that was sanctuary." Cheren was out of there with a wobbly belly. "That should hold me. Now I wonder if they got anything there." He went over to the pawnshop. "Yo Slim, got anything…" He could swear he recognized this gentleman, "Nickel Joe?"

The only thing that made him look different were his missing teeth and mostly bandaged face. There was also a deflated balloon in there that looked like Fat Jack. "Why, who is this Nickel Joe you speak of? I'm ol' Trader Slim! Want some goods, Mac?"

"Ummm… ooo, is that a Hookshot?"

"The one and only." He held it up.

"Uhhh, not quite."

"Whatever, so how much ya payin'? Got 30 Rupees?"

"Have 30 cents."

"Deal." So, the exchange was made.

**Cheren got a second _Hookshot_! With this, he can launch from target to target, and go almost anywhere there's wood! Now you'll feel like a true Batman ripoff, though Nolan's pretty much got that!**

"See ya later, Slick. And say 'hi' to Nini for me."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

So Cheren continued on his valiant journey. Three more trucks blocked his road, and some Craws came running out to jab him with spears. Cheren clashed his blade with theirs and sliced the spearheads off, then shot his Hookshots to either side and pulled two Craws against each other. He swung his feet at another until he was down, then threw his boomerang against two others before flipping overhead and slicing them down. He followed a road around the right of the trucks, and when Bristles spun out to slice him, the enemies were too easy to bomb with his M.A.R.B.L.E.s.

The path brought him to another trench area with a rushing river below, but sets of Hookshot targets spread across the parallel walls. He launched back-and-forth, back-and-forth between both walls and flew across the river, until the last target's wall gave way and fell in. He held his breath beneath the water, eyes widening when a swarm of Rip Van Fish were on his tail. He swam frantically into the underwater cave, doing Torpedo Spins to burst through wood barrings in his way. He shot out of a surface inside an underground cave, ripples reflecting off the ceiling, having to shoot stalactites down with his arrows to stick on small islands and let him jump to a far, high ledge.

He made it to a large whirlpool pool that threatened to sink all that fell in to the depths. An unreachable ledge was across the other side, and that platform had a small wall on its center. Cheren switched on his Remote Bananarang and had it fly around said wall, finding a Crystal Switch which he struck. A bunch of huge cans emerged from the pool, flowing around the center as it spun, so Cheren hopped on to ride across. He noticed an Eye Switch on the ledge where he just stood and shot with an arrow, making a ladder drop down along the front of that parallel ledge. He climbed up, hopped over the switch, and proceeded through a hall that led to a perfect round sewer tunnel.

Cheren found a discarded Koopa shell and rode it like a sled around and around the walls and ceiling, even skiing over the filthy sewer water. The whirling ride came to an end when Cheren dropped down a short shaft with a huge plug covering a drain. Around this shaft were several tunnels that water poured from, and Sun Switches below them. Cheren was standing in a bright sun beam coming from above, so using his Mirror Shield, he shone on all the switches and sealed the tunnels. With each tunnel he closed, the plug he stood on shook more. When that final tunnel—the one he came from, closed, it was ready to burst.

A gush of water sent Cheren out of the sewers, miles into the sky. "YEEEEAAAAAAAAH!" He threw open his Pirate Sail, and simply floated the rest of the way to Roguetown. A town of multi-racial thugs, but it seemed fairly pretty from this high up. The sun was shining bright on this town, shining high on him. No doubt, the sky was truly the limit.

"I'M KING OF THE _WOOOOOORRRRRLD!"_ His voice was heard for miles across the town. _"DARE ANYONE TO TELL ME OTHERWIIIIIISE!"_

"Haha!" Cheren never felt more happy. For the first time in his life, he felt like he could do anything. He felt like the wind was at his back, and would always see his sail of freedom would blow forever. Not that he wanted it to; he had to land. For the first time in his life… he truly felt like a kid. (Play Rogueport Theme from _Thousand-Year Door_.)

Cheren gently took land on the red roof of a 2-story building. "Ahh, that was a good breath." He jumped and landed on the ground. He gazed at the back of a tall, bronze statue set in the middle of the plaza. Cheren saluted, "You were born in one heck of a place, Mr. York."

He explored town a little bit and found a sign that directed to the Train Station, just north of the West Side of town. He approached the station to find a few people boarding the train, and overheard some passerby. "You know, I heard a _very_ important train was passing our town." a lady said.

"Really, what kind?" a man asked.

"A very private one ridden by the richest people in the world. I hear it's taking them to an unspeakably private party."

"You don't say. Well, why party with the simple commoners when they can go there?"

Cheren raised a brow. No doubt these were connected. Well, he had 3 hours to kill, may as well find someplace. He looked around and saw a door with a bed logo posted over it, and assumed this to be the Inn. He walked in and passed a small bar with some suspicious characters; well, just a bunch of thugs really, the only real suspicious guys were those four in the hoods on the other side. As Cheren marched up the stairs, he didn't know one of those hoods was eying him curiously.

The Inn had two beds, and a leak in the ceiling where water drops poured endlessly in a bucket. He spoke to the Mushroom Toad woman and asked, "Um, how much for a bed here?"

"Just 5 Coins."

"Um, is that 5 cents, or literally 5 coins?"

"I don't know… I'm still trying to get used to the currency of this world."

"Eh, $5, for your trouble." He paid her kindly.

"Okay! Enjoy your stay and make yourself comfortable."

Make himself comfortable. Yeah, he could do that. He approached his bed casually and took a calm breath. He slipped off his shoes as he sat on his bed and pulled his socks off, throwing them and his jacket on the floor. "Ahhhhhh!" He lied flat and stretched his toes to give them air. "This is luxury! Hey, wake me up at 7:50, gotta be somewhere." He set his items along the wall and put his glasses on the nightstand.

"If you say so!" she beamed.

So with that, Cheren pulled open the covers and got underneath. He rolled into a comfortable position and drifted to peaceful sleep.

**Peoples α** (Play "Gemlik Base" from _Ratchet & Clank_.)

The Aphelion passed the atmosphere of a dark, brownish-orange planet, taking land outside of dark, dirty city where rap music boomed across the air. When the crew stepped out, the smell of burning trash already reached their noses. They viewed right to see a bunch of aliens dressed in street clothes cheering at two hovercars racing along a track. The cars shoved each other forcefully before the left car was flown off the tracks, blowing to smithereens. The tons of gangsters cheered, throwing money aimlessly.

Maddy was a little creeped out. This wasn't her preferred retreat. "Might wanna put this on." Qwark stamped green cloaks over Maddy and Drake. "Humans are considered quite a delicacy 'round these parts."

Maddy gulped, joining Ratchet and co. as they approached an alley. "So your planet is completely run by children who protect it from the adults and you have a bunch of giant trees growing around the place?" Ratchet recapped.

"Well, sort of… 'course, lately it's been about fighting trans-dimensional deities who wanna destroy everything." Maddy replied. "The average 'adults' don't really pose a threat anymore."

"Coming from the girl who got picked on by teenagers." Drake remarked.

"I'm just saying." She glared. "But there's a bunch of us around the planets, so we could probably signal the galactic branch."

"Right! Leave it to me!" Qwark perked. "Finding a galactic transmission radio in a dump like this is like finding hay in a needlestack! And probably just as painful." He frowned. "BUT: Captain Qwark's afraid of no man, woman, or teen!" Then grinned. "Just rest easy here, because I know these kids' language like the back of my hand!" And so, he marched off to the crowd. "Ahem: Yo-yo-yo, homebuds! Y'all-y'aaaall, how dem RAP tunes goin'? Yo Yo Ma, Kenny West! Dat dere Snoop Dog, I tell ya what!"

Ratchet whispered to Maddy, "Word of advice, he hasn't seen his hand in 5 years. Jumpsuit's stuck. We better look ourselves."

"Alright, let's do it quick. Teenagers are gross, and these guys're no different. …"

As Drake accompanied them, his eyes peered curiously at Maddy over his sunglasses.

_Stage 9: Blipton District_

_Mission: Find a way to contact the KND._

_Act 1_

The trio began their trek through a trash-filled alley to reach a street guarded by Spinneruffs, alien gangsters walking vicious alien dogs. They furiously whirled and swung their dogs around, flinging any of their gunshots away. But Drake was able to latch his grappler on one of the dogs, holding it in place, so while the owner kept spinning, he ended up getting tied in the leash. He did the same with the other 2 Spinneruffs before they searched around. Other roads were blocked by fences, with the only open path being a narrow alley with a chasm, and three broken metal pipes sticking from the walls. They grabbed the three tied Spinneruffs and tossed them to stick onto those pipes' ends, then were able to bounce across. "Why couldn't we just jump on the pipes?" Maddy asked.

"They woulda broke. This way, they don't. Game physics."

"Ahh."

Once across the chasm, they turned right to another alley that was very long an empty, with polluted puddles and small critters roaming around. But across the other side, a Turret Ted poked out of a can, blasting a row of water torpedoes across the alley. It was a matter of careful jumping across the torpedoes and making their way to the otherwise-defenseless enemy, where Drake leaped and stomped his can with his boot. But before continuing, Ratchet noticed another alley on the side of this one, nothing but a chasm, except for the platform on the other side, just over the chasm, with a Gold Bolt. The opposite ledge had a fence to prevent them from reaching it from that side. Ratchet glided to this platform using Clank and claimed the bolt, then carefully Wall Jumped back to his friends.

The team found a fire escape to the left of the Turret's post and climbed up to the rooftops. There wasn't much to explore except for some boxes containing ammo refills (including discarded juice cartons or gumballs for Maddy's weapons), and it seemed like most areas beyond these buildings were death chasms. Were they really into those? They could follow a series of floating platforms with propeller bottoms over a sea of cheering gangsters with a rapid racetrack in the middle. A row of Swingshot Targets hovered over part of the sea, so Maddy held Drake while he swung them with his harpoon, and Ratchet his Swingshot, to safely land on a new platform.

This one floated upward so they could land on a higher one, and from there jumped more platforms that floated up when they stepped, and once they were high enough, they turned and threatened to dump them into the crowds. But a Gold Bolt floated a few meters over one of them, so they waited for that platform to lift them to and grab it. "What're these bolts for again?" Maddy asked.

"To buy alternate skins. They really aren't plot-relevant."

"Oh."

They eventually Swungshot to a target over a wide circular platform, where two Slammer-Hammers popped out of boxes and ran to whack them with hammers. Of course, Maddy and Ratchet took them out easily with their guns, but a Mini-Merv, a thug in a floating metal can with a laser turret, guarded the stairway on the other side. When they got too close, it threatened to shoot its laser, and it shot anyway when their projectiles came. But Drake was able to shoot his harpoon and latch the laser turret, forcefully tugging until he yanked the bottom off and made the thug fall out.

After taking him out, they stepped down a series of square-shaped, grated stairs that zigzagged a little bit, but safely brought 'em down to the audience crowds. They stood ground when some racecars whooshed by along the track, making wind, and proceeded down a path to their right. They hopped a small staircase and followed a path where Fogger thugs ambushed them, burping toxic gas that made them dizzy. The thugs were easy to knock out as they made it to where the racetrack seemed to begin, and therefore where it ended, as crowds were eagerly raising money at a booth. However, across from that start were stairs to a platform with a strange, stone cube with foreign writing. A thug was announcing, "Step right up, TRY your luck at the unreadable block! Come one science nerds, come all and try to read the incomprehensible language! Stumped many for eons, stump many for eons more, unless ANYONE can read the unreadable block!"

Not entirely interested, the team roamed around the starting area for any thug that looked like they could sell them a transmission radio. _"'kay, folks, this race is coming to an end, our next prize will be a prime galactic transmission radiooo!"_ There it was. _"For all you sly pooches who wanna prank-call galaxies a billion light-years away!"_

Maddy rushed up to the booth, "How much to race here?"

"Sorry Kid, this ain't no go-kart ride."

"I'll pay 500 Bolts." Ratchet slipped him the cash.

"YOU'RE IN, Slick! You get the Dark Devil!" He tossed Maddy a black helmet and key.

As they walked to the parking lot, "So, Mad, uh, whatcha doing?" asked Ratchet.

"Relax, driving a racecar can't be any different than a S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P.."

"While I don't know what that is, I think you should let me-"

"Sorry, Bud." A buff, green alien guard stopped Ratchet from following. "Only the twerp's en'ering."

"Wish me luck." Maddy slipped the helmet on and found the black car with dim blue stripes. She hopped in, started it up, and drove out to the track.

"Wow. Never took Maddy for this kinda stuff." Drake mentioned. "Wonder what the preferred bout is?"

Ratchet and Clank only exchanged worried sighs.

_Sub-game: Blipton Raceway_

All cars were on the track, the racers raring to stomp their gas pedal. **THREE. TWO. ONE. GOOO!** (Play "Hoverbike Race" from _Ratchet: Going Commando_.)

_"AAAAAND THEY'RE OFF!"_ The cars sped at near equal speed. _"Turbo Theo TAKES the lead, and the others are fighting for second place!"_

Maddy was forcefully bumping a red car with a fat alien, who hit a fence as she stayed steady for a few yards. She was behind a blue car, coming to a row of rainbow ? Blocks, and when she hit one of the blocks, a roulette in her car spun to stop on a certain item. It landed on banana peel, so she pushed the button to drop a peel on the track so a car behind could spin out of control. She faced forward and drove up a narrow slope on her right, having to keep across a thin road above the track as she spotted the blue car below. She ran over some Boost Panels and sped faster, eventually going off the road and passing the blue car.

She rammed a row of ? Blocks and landed on wings, conveniently using these to glide over a field of flames along the track. She glanced at the blue car behind her, watching as it was blown away by a force behind. _"HERE come the BABYLON Rogues! The Track Trekkin' Trio of the racetrack!"_ Gliding on hoverboards were a green Mobian hawk, Jet, pink Mobian swallow, Wave, and gray albatross, Storm.

"Too cool for cars?" inquired Mad.

Jet hit a ? Block, seeing the tiny terminal by his foot land on Red Turtle Shells. He stepped on it as three Koopa Shells surrounded him, and Maddy was worried when her car began to lower to the track. Her wings vanished, Jet blasted a shell to fling Maddy into the air, letting the three pass. The track was about to go underwater, but Maddy couldn't take the alternate right path as some racers shoved her to the water. A propeller replaced the engine that allowed Maddy to drive, but being under the liquid already made her seasick.

"Oh, no." Ratchet frowned. "She's boned."

_"Kart Number THREE seems to have lost CONTROL. Did those last attacks knock her BRAINS out?"_

"HANG IN THERE, Mad!"

Maddy tried to keep herself steady and navigate around this river, nabbing a ? Block that gave her a Spring Pad. "WHOOOOAAA!" The item flung her upward, landing her on the narrow path above the water so she could make it to the river's end. She zipped by the starting line as the first lap was complete. "Sigh, okay, gotta just stay calm and take out those birdbrains. After all, if you can achieve two accomplishments with one action…" She hit a ? Block and let it roll on Blooper, "you can kill three birds with one squid."

She pushed the button, sending the Blooper flying to all racers. It got in the Babylons' faces and squirt ink in their eyes. "Hey! I can't see! Bwaaaark!" screamed Jet.

"We just COULDN'T use cars, huh Jet." remarked Wave.

"This ain't _Sonic Drift_!"

Maddy passed the trio and spared them a smirk and salute. The blue car was ahead of her again, but one of the back racers acquired a Bullet Bill and transformed into the speeding missile, easily blowing down the Rogues, Maddy, and reverting to normal behind the blue car. By the time she regained herself, the Rogues and several more racers passed, so she tried to catch up desperately. A racer ahead of her acquired a Piranha Plant item, which began to munch the back engines of further cars. Maddy spotted a secret path behind some buildings and quickly shifted that way. It was a little narrow with some oil puddles that made it slippery, but she found a ? Block that gave her a Blue Turtle Shell. She let it fly forward, making its funny noise and pink path, to seek the first-place driver.

Having bought time for herself, the path eventually brought her back to the other racers, and were nearing the river again. Maddy gulped, wishing that path led her around it, and around the Babylon Rogues in front of her. "Haha! Face it!" Jet laughed. "We all got three Mushrooms! You'll NEVER pass us!"

But Maddy hit a ? Block and it landed on lightning. Curious, she pushed the button, and all racers were immediately shrunk to toy-size. _"HEY! WHAT 'appened? ?"_ squeaked Jet.

Maddy smirked, "OUT of the way, birdbrains." And boosted forward with the Rogues bumping over her windshield. She took the narrow path above the river with no trouble, staying on it with careful precision to avoid the liquid. The racers re-expanded to normal, and Maddy saw the blue car was ahead of her again, having grown big just after passing a ? Block which Maddy grabbed. Once they were past the river and on normal road, the driver of that car, Captain Falcon, climbed on top and faced Maddy with spiteful eyes. She gulped as the man readied to jump with his signature move. "FALCO PUUUNCH!"

Maddy pressed the Boo Sheet she collected and turned intangible. "Yuh-oh. UAAAAH!" Falcon punched nothing and fell onto the track, soon gone miles behind them as Maddy passed the starting line.

_"THE THIRD LAP IS HEEERE! And Turbo Theo's still taking the leeeeead!"_

Maddy looked at the screen, which read her in 2nd place. "WHAT?" She peeked over her hood and saw a thin blue line being created by some tiny force. She looked around her window, and this mysterious winner was a tiny orange snail with a super-powered shell. "You're KIDDING me!"

She was more desperate than ever to pass this super snail, but he stayed directly in front of her, and she on its blue path. She took the upper route over the track again and stayed on to catch the Speed Boosts, hoping it would give her a winning chance. By the time she came down, the snail was right behind her, and she grabbed a block that contained three bananas. She dropped them behind, the snail easily avoiding, and one of the back racers grabbed a Bob-omb. It sent it ahead, exploding on Maddy while Turbo swerved around, and she was in 6th place before she knew it. The farthest back racer grabbed a block that landed on Gold Shroom, so he sped forward with hace, rammed Maddy, and caused the 7th place racer to pass too, putting her in 8th. "Oh, no."

She kept along casually, fearing she lost any chance of winning. She followed the secret path that went around the flame field, just letting the oil pools make her slippery as she grabbed a ? Block. It landed on Lucky #8, which she pressed to see what'd come up. Eight different items surrounded her car, so she would carefully use each one. First, the Bob-omb flew forward and wiped out the two racers ahead. 6th place. She blasted a Green Shell to hit the pink racecar. 5th place. A Red Shell to take out Storm the Albatross. 4th place. A banana straight at Wave the Swallow's face, making her ram a streetpole. 3rd place. And a Blooper to blind Jet's face. 2nd.

She used a Mushroom to boost in a desperate, last ditch attempt to pass Turbo, following him across the narrow road over the river. She finally used the Power Star, her car sparkling with rainbow colors as she was invincible. Turbo looked back, hurrying faster and faster as the rainbow car was inching ever so closer. And just when the river was reaching its end, _Squuuish._ The snail was flat.

With that, there was nothing to stop Maddy from reaching the finish line. However, she noticed Captain Falcon on the track, ready to leap at her with another flaming punch. With a smirk, she used the last item, Boomerang, and flung the old racer off the track. "UACK!" Maddy's car zipped beyond the line as the audience roared. _"AND RACER #3 IS THE WINNEEERR! If you would like to make refunds, take it up with our Human Resources!"_

A huge, buff alien peeked out a dark door, frowning angrily as he punched his palm. "Gulp! Never mind!" Drake gulped. The frumpy alien slid back inside. (End song.)

Maddy parked, hopped out her car, and pulled her helmet off to whoosh her hair behind her. "You DID IT, Maddy!" Ratchet cheered.

"And HEEEERE is your RADIOOO!" An alien made of black and white vertical stripes tossed her the small device with antennas.

The gang took retreat within a small alley as Clank pulled out a small TV device. "I will begin connecting this with our transmitter so we may locate Milky Way's coordinates. This will only be a minute."

Maddy casually walked around bored, approaching Drake who was leaned against a building. "You know, Mads, I have to say, you surprise me."

"Whatchu mean?"

"You've been associating with aliens for about 2 hours, and also a one-handed freak, and I don't think I've heard one remark." He grinned slyly.

"Oh… well, you know, there's already jillions of aliens, and tons of people have missing arms…"

"That's not what I'm getting at." He lowered his sunglasses, peering over them. "You've been going to my school since kindergarten and every time you see me, you'd either insult or just point and laugh. When we went up to GKND for that war, you couldn't go five minutes without throwing up. So tell me: why the sudden change in attitude?"

"Hmmmm… well…"

_The truth is, what instigated it was her voyage to Punk Hazard. She still remembered all the ordinary human kids befriending little Minish and Kateenians, riding the giant kids, swimming with the merfolk, and flying with gargoyles and Nimbi. And Maddy herself was riding atop Mocha's big, bushy head. Playing together like there were no differences at all, just a bunch of snot-nosed kids._

_Last week, when Maddy was walking about the Moonbase, she suddenly ran into Mocha. "Oh? Hey, Mocha. What're you doing up here?"_

_"Hi, Maddy! I was asking Francis if the training room had any giant-size equipment I could borrow. Obviously not, right, heh heh heh ha." She scratched her head._

_"Well, we have psychicbenders as crime-detectors. Maybe some of them could biggify them."_

_"Yeah. …Hey, let's have a practice fight!" she said excitedly._

_"What?"_

_"Francis said you were pretty tough against big guys. I wanna see how tough you are!" She smirked and balled her fists._

_"…You're on!"_

_The two were later in the training room with fighting stances. Mocha stomped forward and threw her fist at Maddy, but the Murphy jumped and kicked at Mocha's left eye. She covered her eye and charged to her smaller opponent, furiously stomping around as Maddy dodged her feet, but Mocha surprised and pinned Maddy under her hand. Mocha smirked, seeing Maddy struggling, but with all her strength, Maddy pushed the hand up and slid out, rolling back on her feet. Mocha threw a punch at Maddy, who jumped off the fist to Mocha's right eye to briefly tug her eyelash before kicking off. The rest of the fight lasted for 10 minutes._

_"Huff, huff, let's call it a draw." Mocha panted, smiling._

_"You say so." Maddy complied. "…You know, Mocha, I'm having a sleepover tonight. No one else wants to come, so if you and your friends aren't busy…"_

_"Well, sure! I'll ask them!"_

_Things went pretty crazy that night. That night, Maddy had six other kids in the living room: a loudmouth girl, a doll-size girl, a barefoot angel, a Christian in a mustard dress, a 12-year-old with some paint, and a freaking giant. Oh, and some rabbit that thinks he's a cat._

_Chimney spun the bottle, and it stopped on Aeincha. "Okay Aeinchan, truth or dare?"_

_"DARE!" She was so tiny, but so daring._

_"Yokay. I dare you to… SMELL Aisa's feet! !"_

_"Okay!" Aeincha walked over and took a whiff with her teeny nose. "Not bad!"_

_"What? YOU LIE!"_

_"Smell for yourself." ;)_

_Chimney crawled over and, "Sniff sniff. UUUUUUUHHH!" Her nose shriveled, putting a grin on Aisa's face._

_"My turn!" Aeincha walked over to spin the huge bottle. "Mmmmm!" It was kinda hard._

_"Heheh, let me help." Mocha smiled, clutching the bottle in her thumb and index. It was hard to turn from her size, so she ended up crushing. "Oops…"_

_"Okay, AUTOMATIC YOU." Chimney said. "Go into the kitchen and get another. Oh, and get some snacks."_

_Mocha carefully stood up, bent down a little, and limped to the kitchen. She crawled and very slowly tried to squeeze her bulbous head into the archway, but when she just couldn't, she reached an arm inside to pull the fridge open. She couldn't reach, so she inched ever so closer, and when her bulbous fingers gripped the handle, she ended up pulling the whole thing over. "Whoops."_

_"NOOOOOO!" cried Zach as he ran and knelt by it. "I was gonna eat the last cupcake and it's RUIIIIIINNNED! Thanks a LOT, Bighead. Bad enough Maddy has that dumb dog, why'd she have to let an ELEPHANT in?" He stomped off._

_"Hmmm." Saddened, Mocha backed up and tried to stand- "WHOOOA!" tripping on her feet, she fell back and crushed a shelf of fine china._

_"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Gwen screamed. "MY COLLECTABLES!"_

_"Ohhhh great, NOW we're gonna get a bill." moaned Chimney._

_"GYOM, gyom." eye-rolled Gonbe._

_Sniffling, Mocha carefully stepped around her friends and left out the giant hole where the front door used to be. Maddy followed her outside as she seated herself cross-legged on the front yard. "I'm sorry, Maddy. I've never been to anyone else's house before. I knew I should've eaten a shrink apple."_

_"Yeah, maybe. But… I like you better this way."_

_"You do? Why?"_

_"I dunno. I'm used to seeing you this way. It'd just look weird if you were me-sized."_

_"But I'm ruining your house. I'm just stepping on everything like a realistic dollhouse. Why would you still want me in there?"_

_"Because otherwise I'd have a bunch of lunatics in my house and you're big enough to balance them out."_

_She smiled weakly. "Well… if you really want me." She crouched and stepped back through the hole, taking her seat in the circle again._

_"Okay, the fridge is a miss, but Zach brought a couple friends over to make you guys some cookies." Gwen mentioned. "Zach?"_

_The twin brother twiddled a flute, summoning a team of short orange guys with green hair. "Chumba-Wumba dumbity damn. Random giant girls wasn't part of the plan. Chumba-Wumba shlimity shiz. 'specially when they go and ruin the fridge." Maddy and Mocha exchanged disbelieved eye-rolls._

Maddy sure had a lot of fun with that. Still, to think so many kids from so many different worlds or races could play together in one place. Look at each other like equals, big or small. And a bunch of kids like that worked for the Kids Next Door, like Mocha and her friends. …It made Maddy think differently.

Ratchet's transmitter beeped, "Hey I think we're getting something."

The transmission buzzed. _"This is Starship Zachstar, repeat Starship Zachstar."_

"Zachstar? ..!" Maddy gasped, "That was one of my brother's personas!"

_"Hello? Who is this?"_

She rushed to the com., "Zach, it's me, Maddy! Are you there?"

The static on her wristwatch screen faded, revealing an adult Zach with a _Dragon Ball Z_-like design. "HE'S A FREAKING ANIMEEE!"

"Hello? Are you Maddy's brother?" Ratchet asked.

_"Yes. I am Maddy's brother, Prince Hiroshi. 20 years ago, she was abducted by space bandidos. I mourned her loss, but I am overjoyed, that you found her again."_

"NOT TRUE, THAT'S NOT TRUE, HE'S MY TWIN BROTHER AND WE GO TO 4TH GRADE TOGETHER, HE'S MAKING CRUD UP!" Maddy screamed.

_"Ahhhh yes. You always were, very unimaginative."_

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT AND COME PICK ME UP!"

"Keep it down, Maddy. I don't think we're supposed to be in this alley." Ratchet cautioned.

"Look, Zach, do you have my coordinates? I'm on Peoples α. Just, get the GKND or something and track me down."

_"Never you fear, Maddy! For I am getting Voltron!"_

The screen revealed a swarm of colored ships flying from there garages. Strums of epic music played as a green part slowly inserted into a pink part. That same tune played when a red part, very slowly, entered a blue part. The same tune, when a yellow part entered an orange part. A gray part, in a very stylish fashion, connected with a brown part. And for about 5 minutes, it was part entering part after part. But it finally concluded when Voltron's glorious head latched on the top, his face opening.

His whole body was revealed to be a complete mess, a bunch of little ships haphazardly slanted and squished together, bound to fall apart any minute. _"Um… I may need a minute. Okay guys, take it back to Step 52."_ The screen switched off.

"He's coming at the Speed of Justice." Maddy noted.

"Well, we have his coordinates marked, we can always fly to wherever he is." Ratchet confirmed. "Let's go look for Qwark. Hey QWARK, where are you?" He searched around.

"Uhhhh hey, Ratchet!" Qwark came out from an alley, grinning nervously and trying to hide. "Listen, funny story, these gangsters kind of challenged me to some street-poker and, one thing led to another, not only is my jumpsuit in new hands, Iiii lost the ship."

"What? !"

They rushed their way through town to where Aphelion was parked… or, used to be. "QWARK, who took the ship? !"

"Just some guys, I dunno! Relax, they'll bring it back, they said we coool, we cooool!" Though when he tried to pose cool, the fact he was in underwear, gloves, boots, and a mask made him look… ehh, less than qualified.

"HOW are we going to get off this rock? ! Even if we had time to sit and wait for Maddy's brother, Nefarious is still looking for us. Before you know it, they'll be posting wanted posters and all these thugs will be on us, we need someplace to hide."

"How 'bout this?" Clank held up a poster.

Ratchet and took and skimmed. It had a picture of a slim robot woman in red metal clothing, and brown metal hair. "Courtney Gears concert, Orbital Auditorium? Since when've you been into her?"

"Since she became too sexy for her chest compartment. Mm hm he he he."

"Courtney Gears… ain't that the fat lady in the wheelchair?" Drake asked.

"You're thinking of someone else." Mad said.

"Oh, that reminds me! I managed to win four tickets for the transport ride there in that poker!" Qwark raised the tickets.

"And you lost the ship afterward?" Ratchet asked.

"No, it's… _other way_."

Disbelieved stares. "Well, that still isn't enough tickets for one of us."

"I will disguise as your backpack and sneak onto the roof once there, to keep signaling for Maddy's brother." Clank offered.

"Then can we also count on you to find snacks for us?"

"I am reserving my multi-purpose functions for important uses."

"Well-p, it's settled, let's go watch some mecha-slut strip-dance onstage." Drake remarked as he walked off first.

"Let's also get Qwark some clothes at the souvenir stand." remarked Maddy as they joined.

**Somewhere in space**

"HOO! Glad we got THAT outta the way!" Zach cheered as Voltron was finally fixed. "The Speed of Justice waits for no man! Hold on, Maddy! I'm going infinity… AND BEYOND! !" (Play "Insane in the Membrane" by Cypress Hill.)

_Act 2: Flight Zachstar_

The Zachstar began flying at speeds incomprehensible to the human senses, swaying up and down to the music on his stereos, which were his fuel source. The stars seemed to pass him like tiny dust particles, and the planets simple islands he was gliding past on his speedboat. Impeding his progress were none other than Galaxians, the classic pixel aliens from the arcade game shooting tiny lasers. Zachstar swiftly rolled and dodged the lasers before shooting his own, whirling and dancing in many fancy poses as if at a disco party, jabbing his fingers like guns as they fired the bullets, Zachstar shaking his hips as he blew down a round of Galaxians.

He was flying to a meteor field at great speed, dodging left and right to avoid slowing his progress, however very little progress he would lose. A new round of Galaxians appeared, this time in very small pairs that appeared onscreen a brief moment, shot a laser, and zipped off, making it difficult for Zach to shoot them when more came. They were appearing almost every direction, Zach hurriedly dodging their shots, but parts of his armor were scorched, and soon it felt like he were in a sea of pixelly aliens. But then he rammed through a power-up box that allowed him to unleash a mighty shockwave, obliterating all Galaxians in sight.

Space was clear for a few hundred light-years before Zachstar came to another asteroid field, maneuvering left, right, up, down, backways, frontways, anyway you can possibly imagine to avoid asteroids, even passing Diagon Alley. Once past the field, more Galaxians started zipping onscreen and hitting each other, bunching into larger forms that took more hits to destroy. Zachstar continued to dance and groove as he showed 'em his moves, shooting all aliens down no matter how long it took.

But finally he encountered a Galaxian far bigger than the others, made of red and green pixels as it aimed its many pixelly cannons. Zachstar shot forward to throw a storm of punches, but the Galaxian blocked with its own arms and pelted Zach with bullets, finally sending him down with a stronger punch. Zach collided forcefully with the ground, but bounces back to his feet and glared at the alien. In this misty, orange alley he had landed, disco lights zoomed all around the ground as Zachstar swiftly maneuvered his legs and arms, making all sorts of fluent dance moves while his head and body remained almost still. The Galaxian blasted endless lasers as Zach jumped miles over the surface, then launched at the alien with powerful rocket boots.

The screen freeze-framed when his fist made contact with the alien, taking the design of a comic book.

The Galaxian countered with his own punch, the image of Katniss Everdeen kicking Harry Potter.

Zachstar performed a mighty spin-kick, the image of _Sonic 2006_ besting _Sonic Lost World_.

Galaxian squished Zachstar under a Ground Pound, the image of Makorra smashing Korrasami.

Zachstar struck its chest with a drill attack, the image of One Piece Wiki smashing Avatar Wiki.

And Zachstar scored one more blow by smashing the alien cold on the ground, the image of Gamewizard, sitting atop a throne that was crushing an annoyed Tom Warburton, IGN people, George Lucas, Nickelodeon people, and that god-awful _Wizard_ movie about a boy who's good at videogames and is going to California to bring a lunchbox to his dead sister, which has no relevance to the plot. (Seth MacFarlane also sat with me on the throne.)

Zachstar performed a few quick victory poses before taking to the stars. He would be on his way in a few milliseconds. (End song.)

"…Uhhhhhh." Zach seemed to have landed on a hillbilly planet as a cowboy gofer approached him.

"Well howdy, pardner! You lookin' for some grain?"

"I'm, uh, looking for Infinity and Beyond. Seen it anywhere?"

"Oh, you wanna go 10 trillion light-years thataway." He pointed in the very direction Zach came from.

"Ahhhhh, crud." A Southern, jail harmonica tune rang in the air.

**New Island**

The yacht sailed treacherous seas of furious winds, angry storms, and a random Gyarados that ambushed and tried to blow them to smithereens. But things turned for the better when the seas became gentle, in the very eye of this storm. The quiet castle of three windmill towers, dark and worn-down. Lucario waited at the pier while Sunni and Darcy stepped off, marching up the wide stairway to the balcony. With their combined psychic, the huge front gates came open, then it was another walk across the wide, empty dining room, up the high, spiraling road to the tallest tower.

"Hello? …Is anyone up here?" called Sunni nervously.

The room was very dark and empty, the only light coming from the wide windows with a view of the bright blue sky. A shadowed figure sat in the throne across from them, facing toward the sky. _"Do you need to ask?"_

They gasped. "It's you, isn't it! Mewtwo?" Sunni spoke, walking in.

_"I thought I had sensed a body strong with The Force. With familiar chi, no less. That which belongs to Mikaela Corella… is it not?"_

"Yes!" Sunni spoke excitedly. "I'm Mika's daughter, Sunni! Oh, and that's Darcy, my sister." The latter spared a slight glare. "Listen, my mom's been captured, and we need you to help-"

_"Mika has taken my place in the Order of the White Lotus after besting me. What befalls her is no longer any concern for me."_

"But you HAVE to help us! At least help us train! I need to get better at psychic so I can rescue her!"

_"Is that so? You know that psychic-"_

"Yeah yeah, psychic's a dangerous element that makes people go crazy and choke people, Darth Vader-style, blah blah blah, but I don't care! I need to become more powerful like my mom, she was supposed to help me!"

_"Really? Well, if your mom is as powerful as you make her to be… and she is… why in the world do you believe she was captured so easily?"_

"I dunno, I… Maybe she's trying to do something! If that's true, I wanna help her, you gotta train me so I can get more strong!"

_"And what is it you think she is trying to do?"_

"I…I…"

_"So you got yourself a rival, huh!" Mika grinned. "Okay, Sunni, I'll help you train."_

_"Oh, hey Sunni!" Mika called over the loud propellers, still with a grin. "Tell your dad I've been taken captive, so I won't make it to dinner! See you later, Honeeeeyy!"_

"…" It was all so obvious, "So that's it, isn't it. Mom's training me to be more independent. To stop relying on her."

_"Mmmm…"_

"…" Sunni shook her head, "So what, I still can't get any better at psychic by myself! I NEEDED my mom to train me, but you're the next best thing, you taught her everything she knows!"

_"I've always had the right mind about each of my students. I sensed Mika becoming a terrific psychicbender, and she has. Another student met similar expectations… but you, I sense incredible chaos surrounding your psyche. Your overdependence on your mom will cause your psychic to destable. Your imagination is limited…"_

"I'm _trying_ to, but it's been so hard, what with everything on your mind…"

_"Then perhaps you need to _empty_ your mind. I am retired from training… and am frankly in not one of the best conditions. Use your imagination… and find other ways to train."_

"But where'm I- …Siiigh, fine." Sunni knew it was pointless. "I guess I'm on my own, then." She turned to leave. "Come on, Darcy."

_"Hang on."_ They stopped. _"Your sister, on the other hand… we thought of other solutions for her. It is time you two… go separate ways."_

"W…Whaddyou mean? Who's 'we'?"

Outside, Lucario was already waiting for them below the stairs, his face stern and serious. "I will be taking Darcy with me now."

"To where? ? Will someone please EXPLAIN?"

Ignoring Sunni's query, Lucario walked up and placed his fists on Darcy's head and chest. "It's time to ascend." His eyes closed as they brimmed, and Darcy felt her very body lighten when both fists glowed. Sunni gaped when they shot to the heavens as a beam of light.

"W-… Darcy… COME BAAAAAAACK!"

Rainier walked up with a very curious, though not very concerned, face. "Well, the captain's got a new story to tell. So what's with Darcy becoming an aurora… light?"

Deep down, a panicky storm was brewing inside of Sunni.

**Nashville, Tennessee; park**

Monkeys down the street, monkeys at the park, everywhere you'd look would be monkeys, monkeys, and more monkeys causing a ruckus. And who could keep the little varmints from attacking the giant treehouse in the middle of the neighborhood. Certainly not these two dorky-faced children. "GIT back here, you little VARMINTS!" yelled Sarah-Jane Jones II, she and her brother, Gary trying to catch the monkeys in nets. One of the silly rascals pounced off Sarah's head. "Rats."

"Well, at least your hair isn't yellow. They just can't stay off me!" Gary yelled as two monkeys were forcefully tugging his blonde hair, swinging them off with his net. "I dunno where these things came from, but they're a worse nuisance than baby GUNGANS! Oh, WHEN will a ray of HOPE shine down on this-" And that's when a great flash exploded above them.

"OOOF." Emily Garley fell and crushed them under her backside. "Ouch… should've coordinated it better. …Oh, hey guys."

"Howdy, Emily…" mumbled Sarah, her eyes blocked by Emily's huge shoes.

"What's going on…" Gary asked.

"Well, the short version is, a bunch of monkeys escaped from my grandpa's lab and teleported all over the world. So now I'm going to catch them, and I thought you guys could help."

"Wer happy to oblige with any of yer crazy shenanigans." Sarah replied. "Unless this is some new experiment regardin' human resting matts, perhaps you c'n get offa us."

"Oh, sorry. He he he he! The transporter can't really detect if any life forms are in the location, so it's good I appeared above you, otherwise it would end bad."

"Yes, there would be NO greater hell than sharing your scratchy skin, now GET OFF US!" Gary demanded.

"Oh! Sorry!" Emily rolled off and recovered, letting the two stand and brush.

"But remind us how we're supposed to catch these here varmints." Sarah informed. "Our nets don't fill the juice barrel."

"No! But THESE will!" Emily tossed them two extra T.E.L.A.-N.E.T.s. "I _always_ bring back-ups, just in case. And I got you other stuff, too!"

"Well, dawgy, now we c'n invite extra players!"

"Or maybe we should stick to one person. You know, so no one screws us up!"

"Um… What're you guys talking about?" Em asked.

"UHHHH. NOTHIN'."

"Hehe! Okay." Emily blushed. "Anyway, I also need to get to your treehouse and tell Moonbase about this—I think there's something a lot bigger going on."

"Well, the monkeys sort of kicked us outta there, but you can try and chase 'em out." shrugged Gary.

"It'll be easy! Just net the monkeys and they'll be good as gone. I hope you two brought sweat-decreasion pills 'cause we'll be doing this awhile! Let's get started!"

The two stared, "You're the only one that needs 'em." they said.

_Stage 10: Orange River_

_Mission: Capture 12 monkeys and get to Sector N's treehouse!_

This region was under a fiery, orange sky, and with the sun setting behind the city, these suburbs would be shaded in shadow. Two Pipo Monkeys were in park, one running around the field, another swimming in the fountain. Emily looked at Gary and gestured to the fountain with her fingers, then to the field as she looked at Sarah, the two nodding. Emily and Sarah rushed to the field using Super Hoops as the monkey long-jumped to try and escape them. The girls were running fast as they could, but stopped to catch breath when the monkey was easily evading capture. So having a wild idea, Emily told her to go left, so when she ran to the right of the monkey and began chasing, Sarah jumped out from behind a tree and netted him.

"Dah! Hey! Get in here you little—D'OOH!" They looked over with disbelief when Gary was floppin' and splashin' around the fountain, unable to net the shifty ape. When he fell on his front, the ape got on his head, shook his rear, and kept jumping.

"Need some help there, Gare?" Emily remarked. When the monkey hopped by, she bashed its head, knocked him dizzy, and let Gary snatch him in the net. "Oh- be careful not to net yourself, or we'll be transported, too. Huhuhu! I reckon we don't wanna be submitted to Pipo-removal experiments!"

The rest of the park was empty except for two 4x4 pieces lain beside some trees. "They musta left them here after invading the treehouse." Gary guessed.

"Hey! If I get enough of these, maybe I can build a Monkey Radar." Emily assumed. "About 10 will do. That'll make things a bit easier." Since they were finished with the park, and the bridge to town had a roadblock at the end, the team decided to explore down the river, flaming orange like the sky above. They couldn't swim in it due to piranhas lurking around, so the trio hopped in a small boat to row their way down. A monkey was standing on a pier along the left shore, blasting a machinegun as the kids hurriedly rowed left and right. They barely made it over as Emily hopped out and bonked him in the head, catching him.

The river was further blocked by a huge wooden wall, but in the farthest corner, a 4x4 piece floated, so the trio rowed over to collect it. They then returned to the pier and headed up a hill to another field area. It was mostly a bunch of small trees, but when they turned away, they heard them rustling and quickly whipped around to see what it was, but there was nothing. They turned away again, and the rustling continued, and it sounded like something was jumping, but still nothing. The trio decided to shoot at the trees with their slingshots, but nothing was coming out. If there were monkeys in there, they would have to come back when they found a way to scare them out.

They crossed a bridge atop the wall that was blocking the river, coming to a smaller field populated by bushes. Leaping around these bushes were three bug-size creatures wearing tiny Pipo Helmets: they were spider-monkeys. The trio rushed around and tried desperately to net these pint-size Pipos (grabbing a 4x4 behind a bush), but they slipped right between the strings of their nets. "Shoot, why can't we jus' squish 'em?" asked Sarah.

"Because, these monkeys don't know what they're doing, that's not fair!" Emily reasoned.

"Well, technically they might, but they're too small to put up a fight."

"In that case, why don't we just leave 'em alone?" Gary asked. "I mean, if they can't even harm us."

"Well… okay."

So leaving more monkeys alone, the three progressed a path along the edge of the hilltop above the river. A patch of tall bamboo was growing from the river, and a white orangutan with a Pipo Helmet was hopping around them. The trio used their Sky Flyers to float over and carefully balance on the bamboo, hopping across with the greatest precision to catch the monkey. Gary ended up slipping and falling, and when Sarah whooshed her net when the monkey hopped by, she missed, twirled in place, then fell. It was up to Emily, hopping the bamboo tips and getting the ape cornered, but it bent its bamboo down, so when Emily got on, trying to balance, the ape released and sent her flinging. "WHOOOA!"

She splashed in the Orange River, shortly joined by her friends using Water Nets. "Methinks yer no acrobat." Sarah remarked.

"Awwwww." Emily frowned. Another monkey they'd have to let slip. Two apes were swimming around this river using underwater jetpacks, so once the trio caught up, they (thankfully) were able to catch them in water nets. They climbed onto one of a trio of wooden platforms, aligned in a triangle, and saw a Pipo Monkey fishing on one of them. When Gary was about to catch it, Emily held him back and noted the camera on a further platform. So they swam over as Emily pressed its switch, filming the fishing monkey.

**_This reminds me of a classic tale._** The captions read.

So with that, they swam back over and netted the monkey, then grabbed the 4x4 on the opposite platform. They swam further down the river before climbing onto a wide wooden pier with many tables with umbrellas. Dancing atop a platform were two monkeys dressed like Honey & Darling from _Ocarina of Time_, but they cowered away when the kids got close. Gary chased the Darling ape around the tables with his Super Hoop and succeeded in catching him, while Honey was hopping the umbrella tops. Sarah shot her down with the slingshot and netted her.

They grabbed a 4x4 in-between some tables, then saw another one magically floating several feet above an umbrella, so Sarah got on that one and used Sly Flyer to float up and grab it. The following part of the river had piranhas swimming around, so they followed a walkway along the left side and entered a dark tunnel. The walkway sloped upward near the ceiling, then came to a dead end, with the only way forward across swampy vines growing across the ceiling. They held tight and climbed across, and saw a monkey swinging back-and-forth on one spot. Emily used one hand to grab the net and swipe it inside, then grabbed a 4x4 stuck to the ceiling.

They dropped off on a few platforms and hopped over to another leftside walkway. A small, low platform on the right wall had a 4x4, so Sarah floated over to get it. But their walkway was too high for her to get back, so she climbed across a thin ledge sticking out above her, landing on another walkway. This path curved up vertically, with the last 4x4 at the top. She spun her Super Hoop and miraculously ran up the vertical path, grabbing the 4x4 and kicking off before floating back to their walkway. Emily grabbed all the 4x4, got to her knees, and began to whip something up.

**Kids Next Door: R.A.D.A.R.**

**R**ascally **A**pes **D**aren't **A**void **R**ecapture

"All right! Now we can detect the monkeys' specific locations. Let's test it out." She aimed the radar further down the tunnel, detecting a monkey climbing a large fence blocking the way forward. _Where're them bats?_ the radar read. The walkway ended a few meters before that fence, with the ape on the other side. They could shoot slingshot pellets through the bars, but he would fall in and be washed down the river. Emily also noticed the red switch on the other side of the fence, so she shot a pellet through and pressed it, making a small door open on a low part of the fence. They floated inside with Sky Flyers and landed on a safe platform, and were close enough to the monkey for a brief jump, and catch.

There was then a grabable fence along the left wall which the three kids began to climb across. A pipe above had holes in it as streams of goop were pouring out, and not wanting to know what it was, they carefully avoided them at those intervals. Following the fence, the trio swung a series of chains hanging from the ceiling, then took land on a large raft. It began moving on its own as they finally exited the cave, exposed to the bright setting sun outside. Pipodactyls flew around and shot fireballs, the kids dodging and whacking them out of the air when they sailed by. Monkeys were also hovering overhead with helipacks, so with careful timing, they jumped and caught these monkeys in nets. They netted three monkeys on that river, making 13 out of 12 monkeys by the time the raft stopped at the barred end.

They hopped off on the left side, where there appeared to be an open gate between two monitors, each showing 6 monkey icons lit blue. It must've signified they needed 12 monkeys to pass, and they met this quota. They followed a stairway up a hill, to a small neighborhood where Sector N's treehouse towered above the rest. They rushed over there to conclude this stage.

"Hoo… Well, I donno about YOU pardners, but mah sweatglands finally got their due." Sarah noted, slouching as she caught her breath.

"But you have to admit, it makes such an invigorating sport." Emily said, panting as well.

"Well, hopefully once we phone this in to Moonbase, they can handle some back-breaking for us." Gary replied, rushing to their house's mailbox. He pulled a booger out of his nose and stuck it in a slot.

_"Enter: Password."_

"Let's see… I believe it is Pureblood! HA ha ha, just kidding! It's Rhubarb."

_"Actually… it's- PPBBBBBLLLLLLLTTHH!"_ A tongue shot out and blew Gary away. His friends hurried beside him as he wiped spit off his face, all three gazing as the treehouse stepped out of its perch, standing with two feet made of roots. The kids readied their guard as multiple branches emerged, ready to swing.

_"HA HA ha ha ha haaaaa!"_ a voice like that of a madman cackled through the air. _"Well well! I never thought ANY human would rise against the marvelous SPECTER! But is a pack of children REALLY the best they HAAAVE?"_

"Holy whoa! Did Specter reprogram your computer to attack us? ?" Emily exclaimed.

_"NO, you silly girl! _I_ am a member of the Freaky Monkey Five, and the most intelligent monkey under Specter's leadership. I am known as VHITE Monkey!"_

"A rival for Specter's brains, huh? What's so special about you Freaky Monkeys compared to the lesser ones?"

_"A very good question! Specter has taken the liberty of feeding us Vita-Z Bananas, packed with the richest calcium, potassium, and fresh Bang Gas! Our intelligence and powers are beyond the average Pipo Monkey, thus are the only worthy beings capable of organizing Specter's Televised Takeover!"_

"Televised Takeover?" questioned Sarah.

_"GAAAAH! I probably shouldn't have mentioned that! Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'll have you runts defeated and strapped down before long. Then it's just a matter of finding that Octogan."_

"Octagon?" Emily asked.

_"I SAID NOTHING! ! AND THEN YOU DIED! Get ready 'cause I'M GONNA SHISH-KABOB YOU! ! !"_ (Play White Monkey's Theme from _Ape Escape 3_.)

_Boss fight: White Monkey Treehouse_

Team Emily ran separate directions as the treehouse started swinging its giant branches, which they jumped and ducked. But a branch grabbed Emily around her ankle and began to swing her furiously around the air before sending her flying several miles. "Hold on!" Sarah called, rushing after her with the Super Hoop to break Emily's fall.

"Hehe! Sorry." Emily blushed, both quickly getting up and returning to the colossus. After jumping its branches again, the three kids took aim at the strange antennas around its body, shooting homing slingshot pellets to try and damage them. _"EEEEERRRR!"_ This seemed to work, as the treehouse shook before it leaped into the air and made the kids bounce upon landing, burying its roots beneath the surface to ambush them. They felt the roots maneuvering beneath and jumped aside before they emerged, then watched as the rest of the roots began to come back up, starting from the base. The treehouse intended to pull them back, so Emily hopped on one of the roots and rushed up with the Super Hoop, grabbing hold of the ladder on the treehouse's side. It led her to a series of platforms as she began to jump up.

_"AWAY WITH YOU!"_ The giant treehouse shook furiously at certain intervals, forcing Emily to grab hold of the branches to avoid swinging off. The way the treehouse kept moving made it hard for Emily to stand—she found a hard time balancing on normal ground already. She floated to a high platform with the Sky Flyer, then took hold of a small ledge and began to climb across to an open window. _"I feel INSECTS on my exterior. BEGONE!"_

"AAAAHH!" Emily was smacked away by one of the treehouse's arms, smashing the ground hard. "Aw, dang it!"

"Never trust a klutz with oversized sneakers." remarked Gary Jones, whom was climbing across an alternate ledge before slipping into a window. A monkey that was running in a hamster wheel screeched and tried to escape, but Gary successfully caught him in his net.

_"NOOO! You little!"_ The treehouse shook more before Gary flew out of the window, taking soft land with his Flyer. _"I'M GONNA SHISH-KABOB YOU!"_ A bunch of cannons appeared on the treehouse and blasted meteors into the air, the kids running around with Super Hoops to avoid being scorched. By the time they were gone, the treehouse had buried its roots beneath the ground again, succeeding in catching the nerds who were tired from running. He hurled them right toward each other as they collided, and as they rubbed their heads after hitting the ground, they jumped up and ran when the treehouse blasted flamethrowers. It stuck its roots beneath the ground, so the trio dodged aside when they emerged.

When the rest of the roots began to arise, Sarah whirled her Super Hoop and rushed up the root, then kept it whirling as she ran straight up the treehouse's side, on a conveniently carved path. She had to dodge around bushels of leaves, make a curve left, then right, and jump off to grab onto a branch. From there, she could jump into a window, finding herself in a mazy corridor of the treehouse. She used her R.A.D.A.R. to search around for any monkeys, detecting one nearby. She followed the signal around the maze intently, but couldn't quite see where the monkey was hidden. But when she passed a painting of Charles Darwin she doesn't remember having, she cut it open and saw the monkey working a terminal. Smirking in disbelief, she caught it in her net as it vanished.

_"YOU LITTLE! !"_ After shaking furiously, Sarah-Jane went flying out of the treehouse. _"I'M GONNA SHISH-KABOB YOU!"_ Sensing what was coming, the three rushed around aimlessly as the treehouse spun around the area and released a storm of flames, setting fire on many parts of the ground. They had less room to run around when the treehouse began leaping and aiming to crush them, with each quake making them slip. They put each flame out by whacking it with their Stun Clubs, and once the tree was finishing leaping, all the flames died out.

Angered, the treehouse extracted more branches and began smashing them around the ground in attempt to crush the kids, who were quick to dodge as they whacked each branch with the Stun Clubs, which seemed to make the thick wood wince with pain. "This plant looks a little thirsty!" Emily smirked as she rushed to the tree's roots and pulled a water gun out of her Infi-Cube. "I forgot to restock on water, but now's a better use as any!" So using the S.Q.W.I.R.T., she sprinkled water on the stem of the tree as its branches began to grow rapidly out of control.

_"HEEEEY! I can't see a darn thing!"_ White Monkey exclaimed as the tree was almost completely shrouded in its own leaves.

"Quick! Let's go for it!" Emily yelled to her friends. Sarah and Gary joined her at the tree as they began to jump their way up a series of newly-grown branches, using the Sky Flyer to gain some extra ground as well. Finally, they made it to the dome at the tree's top and broke through the glass into the Mission Prep Room. They glared angrily at the short, white monkey with the disheveled hair and red/green mismatched glasses working the controls.

"GAAAAH! I have been found! I must maintain my secrets!" So the monkey began to hop around the chamber, but Gary and Sarah followed Emily's gestures and ran opposite directions. "GAH!" Sarah skidded to a halt beside the monkey and sent it across the room with her Stun Club. He flew toward Gary, who batted it to Emily, who leaped and kicked him forcefully to the center.

"Oaf!" Her leg still stretched mid-jump, Emily had a rough land in which she nearly did the splits. But she got up, fixed her glasses back on, and glared at the dizzy monkey in the middle. With a mighty leap, Emily raised her net, and- "YES! _(YES! YES!)_" White Monkey was gone in thin air. Emily, Sarah, and Gary performed a dance before belly-touching in mid-jump. (End song.)

After quickly hacking into their computer, Sarah and Gary managed to shut the rogue treehouse down. "Hoo, dawgy. Talk about a wild bull at the rodeo." the former said.

"Why did White Monkey decide to hack it, anyway?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. But check this out." Gary brought up many holographic screens of children sitting on couches at home, eyes totally blank with mouths drooling. "It's like all these kids are in a… trance."

"Holy cow!" widened Emily. "You don't think Specter was sending hypnotic images from the treehouse, do you? ?"

"Lemme see: _Adventure Time With Pip and Po_, _Misadventures with Bippy_, _Out o' Jimmy's Head_? ?" Sarah examined. "Well bake me 'n a toaster oven, they're usin' our treehouses to make dang NITWIT shows and hypnotize kids!"

"That's terrible! How will kids educate their selves with fine-quality programming? ! All those poor nature channels, secrets of the universe, educational cartoons, and—HUU!" Emily gasped with incredible horror. "EVEN THE MICROBIOLOGY CHANNEL, TOO! ! ! I can't let them get away with this!"

"Well, they got a far distance ahead." Gary said, typing on the keyboard. "They disabled communication with any other treehouses, and Lord knows how many were taken over."

"But at this rate, Moonbase should be more th'n on the job." Sarah implied.

"End of the world is coming up, it was the perfect time to seize the moment. The whole Kids Next Door is panicking, it'll take forever to locate these monkey bases."

"Haaaawwwwww." Emily sat down in defeat. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Call me a nutbrain… but Ah know someone who might help." Sarah began. "He's our mom's cousin… a real nutbrain… but _boy_, is he smarter 'an a no-limbed newborn."

Gary gasped deeply. "No! You can't mean-!"

"Who? WHO?" asked Emily eagerly.

Both siblings faced her with grim, dark eyes. _"UNCLE SHELDON COOPER."_

"…Who?"

"He's the most unbearable human being anyone could ever meet!" Gary exclaimed. "That imPERVIOUS ego, those TERRIFYING mantis eyes… You'd have to be able to stand him for 10 SECONDS and vice-versa if you ever want 'is help! !"

"Yer right. Ferget I suggested." Sarah agreed.

"Well… how can he help? Where does he live?" Em asked.

"He's set up a lab under his old home in Galveston, Texas," Gary explained, "where he conducts research on the 'endless wonders of the universe'. Granted, he's got a lot of cool stuff and he has his know-how, but trust me, you'll never stand him for long."

Emily hopped to her feet and became serious, "Then let's go!" She balled her fist. "There's no smartass in the WORLD that's encountered Emily Garley- snort! I'll kick this guy's brain's butt up Timbuktu, I tell you what, and I ain't stop kickin' 'til this guy gives us whatever help we need! So bring it on, guys, haul me down to Texas so I can go cowsquirrel!"

It wasn't the only time Emily looked so serious, so willing, so ready to fight. …Every time, she looked ridiculous, they were ashamed to be near her. "Well uh, tell you what Emily, how 'bout when Uncle Sheldon drives you mad, we agree not to reveal the embarrassing story 'long as you stay away from us for the rest of your life." Gary offered.

"Okay." Emily smirked. "And after _I_ totally outwit him, you two can worship the intelligent ground I walk on for the rest of eternity."

"It's a dern deal!" Sarah gripped Emily's hand. "Let's hop in whatever S.C.A.M.P.E.R. we have runnin' and git shakin'! COME AWN, Gareh!" They hurried down to the hangar.

"Oh Dear Mercy, what have we done." Gary shuddered with terror as he regrettably joined his friends.

**Cleveland neighborhood**

The sun was nearly halfway below the horizon, and the city would be dark in minutes. In the yards and gardens where our world's tiniest creatures lived, the shade has already arrived. This was how it was for Rupert, Timmy, and Hikari at this moment. "It's getting _daaaaaaark_, Ruppy." Hikari moaned.

"Our parents are gonna kill us." Timmy noted glumly. "Rupert, we gotta get _home_."

"You wanna go to your parents looking like ants?"

"Well, it's better than being out here where the REAL bugs can get us. Can these Pikmin really protect us out here?"

"I'm… not sure. They said they usually just stay in their Onion."

"Well why don't they let US in?"

"Because we need MKND clearance. But I guess we can find your house. Where is it?"

"It's. … …I'm not sure." Timmy raised his finger to point a direction, but left, right, forward, and behind him was giant grass.

"I'm _scaaaaaared_." moaned Hikari. "What if we get _eaten_?"

"L-Look, it's okay, Hikari…" Rupert tried to assure himself as well. But he's never been out camping in a pitch-black forest, this was generally the same, on a much more dangerous scale. "We'll just stay here until…until the sun comes out. We'll call the Pikmin out for some defense."

"I _knew_ we shouldn'ta agreed to this." Timmy frowned, having a seat. "It'll take us _days_ to find our house. Months…"

"I wish Jessie were here." Hikari sat down as well. "He would _hoooold_ us, and _protect uuuus_, he'd step on ALL the big, scary bugs and let us sleep in his _soft, warm haaaaaair_." Her face mixed with worry, sadness, and dreamy love.

It hurt to see his friends so worried and afraid. He was almost sorry he shrunk them into this mess, now that they had no way to get back. Rupert never liked being at home with Dad, but being so small in such a dark place, able to be eaten or crushed by anything, this adventure could only end badly. …He tried to sport a positive look, "Hey, it'll be alright, guys. We've got the Pikmin. They fought all those other creatures, especially those Purple guys, they'll protect us 'til the morning! Then we'll keep looking until we find another Minish and get us back to normal!"

"Okay…" Timmy began to calm a bit. "But Rupert?"

"Yeah?"

"I want _twenty_ dollars now."

"Okay. ."

**Iceland; outside King Household**

Sector V took land on the street outside the King House, from which grew the humongous tree that was Sector IC's treehouse. The IC team saw them coming in, already rushing down to the house and out the front door. "Hey, Sector V!" MaKayla beamed. "Long time, no see! Done being pirates?"

"Heh heh, if only." Mason chuckled. "Still know everything, MaKayla?"

"No, not at the moment."

"Yo, what up, George." Chris smirked and waved. "Anything exciting happen?"

"Miyuki got hit by a car a few days ago."

"Ouch. Anyway, do you guys know anything about these 20 Keys?" Chris asked. "We were gonna ask your dad that."

"Our dad's not home." Kayla replied. "Said he had to do something. And don't ask me to tell you who they are, 'cause Clockwork wouldn't let me look."

"Aaaaaawww! Even when he's DEAD, he won't help us!" Artie whined.

"Don't you guys have any clues?" Miyuki asked.

"Not exactly." Aurora replied. "But two operatives were kidnapped by aliens, and Dillon said their boss talked about Dr. Nefarious. Didn't you do a report about him?"

"Hey, that's the guy that tried to ruin Christmas!" Lola recalled.

"Great, we have a common enemy." Chris fist-palmed. "Let's get up there and kick his bum!"

"Hold on." Aurora touched his shoulder. "If they're in space, we could be chasing them for ages, and what if Cheren needs us on Earth? It just feels too early to be rushing into it."

"But we HAVE to save Maddy!"

"Listen, why don't _we_ go on and save her?" Kayla told them. "We'll go to Galaxia and get GKND's help to find Maddy _and_ search for these Keys. Meanwhile, you stay here and search for clues on Earth."

"Sounds good to me." Harry said. "Ah prefer breathing my atmosphere. Any object?" Some of the members shook 'no'. "A'ight then."

"Well… okay. George?" George looked up as Chris faced him seriously. The Uno boy held his right fist up. "Promise me you'll bring Maddy safely."

"…" George gripped his fist, "Am I making the Unbreakable Vow?"

"Yes. And if you break it, I'll kill your best friend, and you'll have to alter the timeline to save him."

"Yeah, I had a feeling something bad would happen to Terry, anyway." He smiled.

"HUH? ! ?" Terry jumped in panic.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" The friends laughed ecstatically at Terry's fuming face.

"Yahright, later Chris." George waved as his team headed back inside.

"La'er." Chris waved back, still chuckling.

Sector V went back in the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. as Mason and Artie returned to drawing on Sheila's snoozing face. "So what're we going to do now?" Haruka asked. "Pick Carol up and get her on the boredom?"

"Carol called me earlier, said she was going to a private party." Mason replied. "Said she would email us once she was there."

"Sounds fancy. We oughta breach it." Haylee said.

"Well if we aren't going to help Maddy, where _are_ we going?" Chris asked. "To look for my long-lost cousin?"

"If Augustus has anything to do with stuff, then maybe." Aurora said as Mason and Dillon wrote 'Monkeytarts' on Sheila's snoozing face. "Let's go talk to Cheren on Moonbase, he'll want to know this."

"Assumin' he ain't tryin' to be gutsy and already off doin' it himself.." Harry said.

**York Household; 7p.m.**

7pm, it was time for duty. Nolan strapped in his trenchcoat and gas mask, and his gas capsules and gadgets were ready. "Alright, Dani, I'm goin' out. Probably gonna be another all-nighter, maybe even more, depending on how far I'll end up traveling. We're going to Civic City first, call me if something happens. Tell me if Dillon comes back, too." He was then gone down the Sandcave to take his Sandmobile.

Midna emerged from Danika's shadow. "I cannot _recall_ the last night you had together."

"Yeah, he's left me high and dry." Danika sighed downtrodden as she lied back on the couch. "Ho well, guess I'll call the girls over for a party." She took a soda and drank.

Midna floated over, "Which reminds me, when are you gonna tell Dillon he, um, eventually needs to claim me?"

"I'll tell him 'soon as he comes home. What are they doing now, anyway?"

"Hmm… I'd like to find out." So Midna flew away as well.

**Roguetown Station; 8p.m.**

Roguetown Station. Well, this was the place. And it was nighttime. Sun was below the horizon, sky a dark-blue. So where was his special someone? It wasn't the only time he went to meet a late secret admirer. Why did he have to make himself so lovable? Such a ladies' man? Even Majora was kind of feminine. The train station was totally deserted, though the train seemed raring to go.

But the bushes rustled, Cheren jumping to attention. "So… you made it."

"Who's there?" he asked.

"I'm glad you showed up." The slim, shaded woman stepped out. A cast was around her injured waist, forcing her vertical. "I had a feeling you would."

"M…MOM? ?" Cheren's face grew wide. "…The person?"

The wrinkly woman with the heart-hair and blue clothing lit up a cigarette. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She blew a smoke. "Care to do me a little favor?"

This made Cheren all the more worried. "What?"

"Nothing special. I just want you… to KILL my boss!" The train's whistle roared, ready to ship off.

* * *

><p><strong>Cheren really knows how to attract 'em. So yeah, be overwhelmed by the endless amount of crap that happens. You already notice these chapters are horrendously long, that's 'cause a lot of stuff has to happen, so there's a lot of set up to make it happen. Now it's a matter of choosing which stories get to have build-up in which chapters. And next time, that building up continues. Hope you can tough it out. (P.S. Harry Potter beats Katniss Everdeen, just to clarify that. Oh, and Korrasami over Makorra.)<strong>


	7. Under the Night

**Welcome back. So these next few chapters will be about getting the first Light, er, second. Yeah, you know how in _Firstborn_, you go through a lot of crap to find one Firstborn, this story's really no different, what with character and world development. But finding this Light, we'll at least be a step through. So enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Night of the Sandman: Secrets Arise Under the Night.<em>**

**Excess Express** (Play "Excess Express Night" from _Thousand-Year Door_.)

Cheren and Mom sat at opposite ends of a candlelit, curtained table, beside a window with a lovely view of the blue night sky and starlit desert, rushing rightward as the train was in motion. A peaceful tune was playing via the train's speakers as the slim older woman poured two glasses of wine. She lightly shook hers in the air and spoke with a smooth smile, "Care to try the champagne?"

"You know I'm not old enough."

"Really, 'cause I couldn't tell." she said with a snarky tone, guzzling her glass in one gulp.

"So who's this boss of yours. Why do you want me to kill her?"

"Funny, I never said it was a 'she'." Mom smirked.

"…"

"You've heard of the Corporate Presidents, haven't you?"

"Only stories. Never saw what was so great about them."

"Well, of _course_ they're great. They're second only to the World Leaders in political power."

"World Leaders?"

"Of the World Government, of course!"

"World Government?"

"My, what _do_ they teach you in school nowadays? Would you be interested in a little story?"

"…"

"As you know, the multiverse is contrived by many universes, and those universes contrived by millions of planets. And each universe has a few what are known as 'Core Worlds'. Worlds where a great concentration of energy in the universe is focused. One of them for this universe is Planet Avalar. Can you guess another Core World?" She smiled slyly.

"Ummm… Flora?"

"EARTH, YOU DINGWAT!" She banged the table. "Ah-he-hem…" she calmed down. "Earth is one of the Core Worlds, and has the strongest concentration of energy. For that reason, around 4000 years ago, a group of humans came to this planet and established a secret dominion. They at first called their selves the Illuminati, but eventually came to be known as the World Government. For eons, they oversaw this world's operations, and see almost every activity that occurs. Their one goal is to assure the peace and order in this world, and to help them, they have the Corporate Presidents For Children's Entertainment."

"And that's you guys?"

"The Corporate Presidents is a team of business owners who specialize in children's toys and brands, but they make stuff for adults, too. The reason is that the fate of this world rests in those who will inherit it, the younger generation, so who controls the youth, controls the future. That's what the World Leaders intend from us Corporate Presidents. But due to my actions in Galaxia, I've lost millions, and now the _Head_ President is chewing my ass off. That's why… I've been plotting to kill her, and seize the throne. Of course, I couldn't do that myself. Someone _else_ needs to take the fall." She smirked wickedly. "_You_…"

Cheren glared. "But why use _me_ to do your dirty work?"

"Because you were the snot-nosed urchin who defeated that Nature Goddess. Your _father_ was the even-snottier urchin who saved the universe. And you and the Head President… _are connected."_ Cheren's expression didn't falter. "You are clearly on equal grounds with her power. And on top of that, we Corporate Presidents are currently _opposed_ against you KNBrats. Killing our leader would give you the advantage. I, on the other hand, don't care about our silly 'purpose'. I just want to make a lot of money. True, the World Government would be disgusted with you, but they already are. The only advantage will be yours."

"Well, what happens to me after I kill her?"

"You promise not to blow my cover, I promise not to blow your ass off. But I can't stop the other presidents from doing the same. That pleasure is theirs."

"…"

"The other presidents will be boarding this train tomorrow morning at 7. We'll be heading to a gathering of bigshots and nobles from around the world. Their kids will be on this train too, so you'll have to stay hidden. After all, it'd be a real shame if TWO big-time bigshots met with an untimely demise."

"Yeah…" He still looked smug.

"WWWWALT! You three show Cheren to your room. No reasonable classy bigshot would DARE step in there. Myself included."

"Yes, Mother." Walt nodded. "This way, Mr. Uno." The three brothers marched off to the back of the train.

"Just a second." Cheren said quickly, holding up his DS. "Does this place have Wi-Fi? Figured I'd spar a few rounds with Panini while I'm waiting to commit murder."

"Oh, fine." Mom eye-rolled. "Just don't contact anyone. Walt, give him the password."

"Very well. Let us proceed." The sons continued leading him to the room.

**Civic City, Rhode Island** (Play "Across the Arkham" from _Batman: Arkham City_.)

A pitch-black night over a city that's less than colorful. A sea of clouds blocking the sparkly stars and their light. And some guy in a trenchcoat and gas mask seated atop a tall building in a wheelchair. He skimmed the city with binoculars. Few cars roamed, and the only people throughout the streets were suspicious types. Quietly gliding to his perch was the witch in the purple cloak, Wiccan, and floating on a small ice platform, Frosty Coldman. "Welcome to the Nightclub, guys." said the Sandman.

"I can't bear to miss any meetings." Crystal sighed. "What's today's grand heist?"

"Doflamingo."

"I think you meant to bring us to California?" inquired Yuki.

"No, Doflamingo, President of Doflamingo Incorporated. They create toys that talk and interact with their buyers, no batteries attached."

"Oh, I was always so _curious_ about those things. Such an odd technology, I just had to get ahold of it. Never had the money." Crystal explained.

"Well, now you won't need any. I read that a huge shipment of Doffy Toys are being delivered to the local Toys 4 Grab. Run by workers of his company, no less. We're going to interrogate 'em and see if they know anything about Caesar."

"That guy again?" Yuki asked. "Didn't we trust him in Kids Next Door's hands?"

"Flamingo was one of Caesar's customers. I think he has something to do with Caesar's escape. And even more to do with trying to destroy the KND."

"What makes you say that?" asked Wiccan.

"It's, eh… hard to explain. …I see their trucks now, let's go. And careful of any Triads no one's bothering to arrest."

_Stage 11: Civic City_

_Mission: Get info on Doflamingo._

And so began a calm, gentle glide across the damp city. While regular people had to walk busy streets, they could fly over everything and swing from roof to roof, 'cause they were superheroes. They could cause any sort of property damage because they were superheroes. And beatin' the crap out of any individual in the name of justice. "The Flamingos control a lot-a this area, and they staked the Triads into helping look after things. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two satellites wasn't under their control. If we get ahold of them, I can listen in on their conversations."

Their first destination was a high balcony where thugs were refreshing in the pool, the satellite active behind them. They took land on the roof just above the pool. "Ahhhh, I tell ya Shin, the best part of Summer is the easing of soul after a hard, hot day." said one of them. "I dunno what these bird guys are about, but 'long as we rent out this suite, I ain't complainin' one… HEY, it's Sandman!" Lying back, he could easily spot the three heroes on their perch.

"Distract 'em." They dropped down as Crystal and Yuki began wailing on 'em, while Nolan hooked the satellite up to his wristwatch. Yuki raised ice shields against two firebenders before flipping upside-down and spin-kicking them across the heads. Crystal pelted fireballs at two more, but they sank in Shadow Veils and slithered to her, the witch leaping high and performing a Ground Quake to pop them into the air, and afterwards batting them away with her staff. She watched as Yuki leaped over the pool, and she quickly batted the thugs into the pool as Yuki blasted ice down and froze them all solid.

"Sorry. Winter's come early." He smirked. The thugs were merely trapped with shocked expressions.

Sandman unplugged his watch from the satellite. "Almost there. Now I just need one more."

"That's not right!" frowned Crystal. "Videogame tradition is three!"

"Yah, well this is thah new, age, so Ah only need TWO!" proclaimed Nolan in a gangsta fashion. "Alright, let's go."

The three glided again over the city until they spotted a satellite atop a fairly tall skyscraper. "Stay down." Nolan said as they stopped on a lower building, seeing the red beams skimming around from the tower. "They have snipers. Let me just sneak up from below." Nolan glided to a low area on the building where he could begin climbing a ladder that led up and around, his wheelchair also grabbing it with short claws so it could climb with him.

"You might be able to with Swanson, but it's hard to make jokes about _that_ cripple." Crystal commented. Sandman tried to climb quietly to avoid rattling the fencelike ladder, but the building had branches with mirrors aimed at the ladder so the snipers could check it real quick. It was a matter of waiting for their lasers to leave so he could progress up the zigzag fence. The ladder eventually brought him to a round walkway just under the snipers' area. He tossed a few quick boomerangs to knock two of them dizzy, tempting the others to coming over. With that, Nolan climbed up a ladder behind them and threw a smoke bomb to cloud them inside, allowing him to knock them out without being seen.

He then climbed up to the satellite and linked his wristwatch to it, downloading the Wireless Communications Network to 100%. _"Hey, you been to that new restaurant with all the singin' animals?"_

_"Freddy's Pizzeria? No way, that stuff always gave me the creeps."_

_"I been there once. Damn things smelled like carcasses. Made the bar behind the motel smell like a meadow."_

The thugs' conversation playing on his wristwatch, Nolan glided back to Yuki and Crystal. "Well, I downloaded their Wi-Fi. Now I'm the ultimate eavesdropper. And I can check my Yahoo, deviantART, and my wiki stuff whenever I want."

"Did you mark on the wiki how I'm totally fabulous?" Crystal smirked.

"In all ways. Now let's fly to the toy store and try to sneak in." His new communications link also marked the location of the store a few miles from here. It was big enough to see on their own, given enough flying, but to make it easier for first-time players. They trekked across the roof of the store, swiping a small, green '?' trophy that was between two vents, before crouching below the back ledge and spying on a truck driving to park near a backdoor. Groups of men in pink feathery coats and slanted sunglasses came out to haul boxes into the door.

"If only more business tycoons allowed their workers to have such fashion." Crystal sighed.

"Yeah, if you're into punk rockstars. Let's follow them." Once the men were inside, Nolan and co. dropped down to try and enter the door, but it was unfortunately locked by a terminal. Nolan attempted to hack it with his new Wi-Fi, but such a task was, shall we say, gargled? By static? You know what I mean. "Crap. Guess these are on a different system. There must be some way-" But that's when his com. network made an eerie, whirring sound mixed with static. "Wait a second, someone's trying to get in! What could…" Nolan switched on an overview map of the network and scrolled around 'til he found the source of the sound.

The voice on the other end was on a very high volume and echoing. **_"HHHHHH_**_hhhhh... hhhHHHELLO, Sandman. Or should I refer you as 'Caveman', since you are a simple Neanderthal."_

"And this is?"

_"I am Edward Nigma, THE RIDDLER! Of course, Gamewizard was going to replace me with some *** rip-off called The Puzzler, but THEN he decided why not stick with the original? After all, I suppose we have ONE too many knock-offs around these parts. But I must say, the guy in the bat suit was far more interesting than you."_

"Whaddyou want, Nigma?"

_"A little raven told me you were on the hunt for a certain bird. Which, judging by you being on this network, I was NOT misinformed. I have something that may help you, but it comes with a riddle. Is your brain up to the task?"_

"More than yours is."

_"Very well then. Ahem. 'You come to me in seek of pleasure. We drain your pride, like a parasite. What am I?'"_

"Is it a place we have to find?"

_"Who knows. Is the great Sandman afraid?"_

"You wish." With that, transmission ended as the trio returned to the rooftops. "Okay, a place that drains pride like a parasite, and we go there for pleasure. Shoot me ideas."

"A bar?" Crystal asked. "We go there for pleasureful booze and cheers, slowly drowning our pride."

"No no, if it's like a parasite, then the other side would benefit." Yuki noted.

"Well, bars take our money."

Nolan was quickly putting two-n-two together. "It might be the answer, but… I got one other idea."

So following his map, they glided to the city streets and landed before a small building with a light-up line picture of a woman and the words 'Slim 'n' Sexy' (in which the lights were out). "A STRIP club? ?" exclaimed Crystal. "Nolan, just WHAT is going on in that mind?"

"Hey, it's just an idea, and the pieces sorta make sense. Let's just check it out." The building was dark and abandoned, but Nolan switched on Detective Vision for any secrets. One of the poles was curved like a cane at the top, and some invisible light-green painting was on it. Curious, he walked around the right pole, which was a few inches shorter and had a green painted dot on its top. Positioned correctly, the green paint on the curved pole, above the green dot on the shorter, made it look like a question mark. Nolan snapped the image in his digital camera. After analyzing it, a series of numbers and letters were scattered within the paint, which Nolan began to decipher and organize.

_"Very impressive, you dirty-minded cretin. I look forward to the day I can challenge you directly. Until then, try your best to find the trophies I left scattered around. I'm sure if fate calls, you'll be wandering around their respective towns."_

_Side Mission unlocked: Find all of the Riddler Trophies in Nolan's levels._

"So whaddid that do." Yuki said.

Nolan tapped the screen a little. "I think this gives me a list of passcodes to Doflamingo's terminals. Not sure how the Riddler managed to get 'em and hide 'em here. Let's try and get in now."

They made their way back to the toy store, and using the Riddler's code, managed to hack into the terminal. A firewall attempted to throw him out, but he decrypted the code 'Playtime' and unlocked the door.

Team Hero passed down a dusty, narrow hallway, finding two steam currents from broken pipes that blocked their path. Yuki tried to throw ice and freeze them, but nothing came out of his hand. "Do they have this place chi-blocked?"

"That's why you wear that back-up." Sandman noted.

"Guess so." Yuki shot ice from his pack instead and froze the pipes shut, letting them pass. A stairway led up to a higher path, but Sandman first checked the enclosing on its left, finding a Riddler Trophy stacked atop some crates. He pulled it down with his grappler before proceeding up the stairs. He stopped his friends before a doorway on their left, where a sniper appeared to be eying the spot afterward. Nolan viewed backward and noticed the alignment of crates on high shelves along the left wall, and was at a point high enough to latch the top shelf with his hook and pull up. Crystal and Yuki joined him (the latter having to share Crystal's staff) before they viewed the gap and noticed a vent on a high point on the dead end wall.

Nolan shot his grappling hook up to yank the latch off, whipping it to himself and catching it so it wouldn't make much noise. "Crystal, I can't get in there 'cause of my chair, you'll have to glide over and crawl in. Look for a way to take out the sniper." Crystal nodded and glided over, quietly crawling into the duct. She found an exit above a tall shelf of crates, where she had perfect view of the sniper on a lower shelf of crates. She quietly glided to the floor away from him, snuck up to the point below his perch, and rolled into the shelf, making it shake and for the sniper to fall. With that, she quickly ran up and bashed him with her staff, knocking him out.

She signaled for Nolan and Yuki that the coast was clear, and they all regrouped in this storage room. In the far left corner was a door sealed with a terminal, so Nolan began another hacking segment. He decrypted the password 'Smiles' before the door opened. They came into another short hallway before the door that brought them into the store. Nolan switched on his Detective Vision, and all of the 9 men roaming the aisles were marked orange. He quickly gestured his friends to follow as he grappled up atop a duct near the ceiling, where they had view around the whole expansive store, and all of the guards in pink flamingo coats.

"They all have guns." Sandman whispered. "I'm sure one or two of them know something about Caesar. But it's too risky to question every single one—we'll have to take the rest out and interrogate the last one."

"Traditional _Arkham_ style, got it." Crystal agreed.

So they all glided different directions—except Yuki and Crystal had to stay together. Nolan glided to the first unsuspecting guard walking down an aisle and cupped a hand over his mouth 'til he fainted. He then flew back above the ducts to view Yuki and Crystal sneaking up on separate guards. But that's when Nolan noticed the collar around the man he just took out's neck, which began blinking red as alarms blared around the store. _"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."_

"Max better not be sleepin' on the job again." a guard said.

"Let's go see what's up." Crystal hurriedly knocked out another guard before he turned, while Yuki froze the floor at a guard's feet to make him slip before the former escaped. "'EY! Someone's IN here!" The guards were scrambling to find the intruders as the three went into hiding. Two of the guards climbed atop shelves and aimed sniper rifles around, even taking time to search the ceilings. Yuki was hurriedly running around the aisles as a guard was on his tail, planting his back against the end of one as he sensed the guard approaching quietly. Yuki whipped around quickly and slammed the guard to the floor, knocking him out.

A sniper turned to the area where he heard a slam, so Nolan quickly glided down to knock him out from behind. Unfortunately, the other sniper took sight of him and began rapidly shooting, Nolan retreating back above the ducts before too many bullets got through his coat. Crystal ended up cornered by two guards, quickly spinning her staff to block their bullets, then switched the setting on her staff as she leaped in the air, and performed a Ground Quake to knock them down. She quickly jumped on one's stomach and bashed his head unconscious, then ran away before the other guard recovered.

Yuki hid behind another aisle end when he heard someone coming, freezing the floor with his pack to make them slip. "WHOOOAA!" Crystal went wobbling and sliding down the next aisle, crashing into the shelf as she and some toys fell down. Yuki blushed innocently, but when another guard came around an aisle, he jumped across the frozen floor, tricked him to slipping, then quickly took him out. The sniper took aim at Wiccan while she was down, but Nolan once again flew from behind and took him down.

The last two guards tried to chase Yuki, but Nolan tossed a smoke bomb to block their vision, flying in to take one out. The final guard shook his way out, searching around with fright for where the intruders could have gone. He heard a whoosh behind him and whipped around, seeing no one (but Yuki had actually dodged back behind the aisle). Another whoosh behind him, barely seeing a figure glide behind a shelf. He turned to walk the other way nervously, but- "GAH!" Sandman grabbed and forced his head against an aisle end.

"I'm not ruffling your feathers, am I?" he inquired.

"_Aaaack_! Look man, if you're with those Triad guys, you already got this week's payment!"

"That's not why I'm here. You work for Doflamingo, don't you? Know anybody named Caesar?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Someone who's gonna merge those pretty sunglasses with your face if you don't tell me."

"Well uh… Doflamingo and his guys took a trip to SPACE a few weeks ago if you can believe that. Said som'in about getting a new employee but, i-it sounds ridiculous I know."

"I'm a fan of the ridiculous. Anything else?"

"Well. . . word around the underworld is Doflamingo's become a distributor of Bang Gas, selling to certain… buyers."

"What kind of buyers?"

"Some say it's a bunch of drug-dealing teens—if you can believe that!"

"You're not telling me everything!" He pressed harder.

"_Aaaaauck_! Look—I'm not in 'is inner circle, I don't know WHAT to tell you! If you're a disappointed customer or somethin', I guess you can file a complaint uh… ehehehe."

"Nah. That's all the service I'll be needing from you." And with one quick punch, the guard was unconscious.

As Crystal helped herself up, a limpy thin toy fell off her head. It was a Sheriff Woody toy, which she picked up and held face-up. "Is it really wrong that I found this cowboy sexy as a little girl?"

"…You wouldn't've looked half-bad yourself." winked the toy.

"AAAAAH!" She let the toy drop and jumped to her feet, aiming her staff with a frantic expression. "Electronic or not, talking toys creep me the flip out!"

"Okay okay, don't worry!" Woody got up too and raised arms in defense. "I won't hurt you! That is… until things get freaky in yo' bedroom." A very sly wink. "…OAF!" He was immediately grinded under Crystal's staff.

"AAAUCK, I take back EVER wanting to study this technology, IT'S ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!"

"Ooof, 'ey, _stop! You're! Tearing! The. Stuffing!"_

Nolan pulled Crystal back and picked up the toy, whose chest area was now torn with fluff leaking out. "Stuffing? Where's the metal bars to make your limbs move?"

"Hwhat?" Woody sat up with a casual humorous smile, "All that junk just gets in the way, who needs to waste money on it when we can just speak to twerps for free!, riiight? Heh, why I can't even… Say, you're an odd one, ain'tcha?" He observed Sandman. "You some kinda toy, too?"

"Uhhh-"

"Yes!" Crystal hugged the crippled man lovingly. "It's my patented life-size Sandman action-figure with REAL gas-pumping action! I taught him to get around on a wheelchair, isn't he adorable?" Nolan shoved her off.

"Another toy, huh? Well in that case, let's you and me have some one-on-one time. You know, without theee, humans."

"Wonderful." Wiccan clapped hands. "Come along, my messy little brother, let's go." She led Yuki off.

"Uhhhh what are we doing again?"

Nolan rolled a little forward as Woody spoke, "Anyway, since it's just us, my real name is Randy Davis. I used to have a wife named Emily and son, Andy, but we've-"

"WAIT! Emily Matthews?" inquired Nolan.

"Uh, no."

"Continue."

"Me and Andy have been growing apart for awhile. I signed up with this seminar on how to get closer to your son, where me and a few other parents met this, _gross_ guy with a really runny nose. Before we knew it, we were glued to the ground, and everything went dark. Next thing I know, I'm on the shelf of some toy store, in THIS flimsy little body! I don't even remember anything, except that 'talking to twerps for free' bit. And _speaking_ of not remembering, wouldn't you know it, Andy shows up and buys me! But I couldn't tell him I was his father, and worse than that, Emily talks about never being married, or Andy having a father. They didn't recognize my pictures, it was like I never existed at all." He frowned with remorse. "That was 12 years ago, now Andy's going to college so he sold all his other talking toys back to the company. Now I'm waitin' to be bought again. …You think you can talk your owner into, buying a nighttime cuddly?" Winked again.

"But why couldn't you talk to them? Couldn't you yell for anyone's help in that toy store?"

"I wanted to, but something inside my brain kept telling me not to, just, 'pose like a toy, play with whoever buys you, you may only reveal your past to fellow toys, if you do so with any human, self-destruct is imminent'! Wait, why am I telling you, every other toy had these orders, why don't you? ?"

"Because I…" He pulled his mask open slightly.

Woody's mouth dropped. "A-… human. AAAAAAAHHH SOMEONE HEEEEELP!" He fell to the floor and ran around like a toy that's lost his mind. "I'M GONNA DIE, I'M GONNA DIE, I'M GONNA DIE!"

"WAIT!" He tried to roll after-

"AH-HE-HE-HEM." He stopped and looked left at a Buzz Lightyear. "Well, since blabbermouth already got us in trouble, I got some information for you. I'm forbidden from telling you much on what happened, but there's a peculiar group of toys who, shall we say, go a little feral when the sun goes down. They're the animatronics at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, which had a contract with Doflamingo for that very purpose. They behave as ordered during the day, but when the store is closed, theeey… go a little freestyle. I don't know the story behind them, but rumor has it they got a look at who or what transformed them into toys. So you can go there and ask them but, honestly buddy, you look like a guy who does better with a frontal lobe. You're better off just keeping away from that place."

"I'm afraid that won't be an option." Nolan told him regrettably. "If these animatronics have clues for us, we have to take a chance. Coldman, Wiccan, let's go." He began his roll to the exit.

"WAIT!" The toy stopped them. "…Just what are you trying to do, anyway?"

All three turned to him, "Isn't it obvious? We're going to find out whatever gave you your curses and try to change you back. Sure, we can just roll up to Doflamingo and beat the crap outta him, but we need to prepare ourselves."

"Siiiiigh. Well, then… I couldn't just let you suffer an untimely demise without giving you a few tips. The truth is, I learned about Freddy's from a toy that was sold here a few weeks ago. A Yipperman Plus. His kid-owner ate at Freddy's and wanted to go back and see the animatronics, dropping Yipper on the floor. The toy waited for hours, but his kid never came back. He waited all night, 'til the nightguard found and decided to safeguard 'im 'til morning. He watched up close when the animatronics came, and forced that guard into a Freddy suit, _killing_ him."

The three heroes couldn't mask their horror. "The toy hid in the restaurant for six more days, watching as a second nightguard miraculously survived. He kept track of the toys movements and wrote 'em down in a journal, and Yipper mentioned something about reading the journal. If you're thinking of going to Freddy's, you _need_ to speak to that Yipper and find out what he knows. His eyes might've been beady and joyous, but even I can tell when a toy looks like he'd rather have his retinas removed. The toys at Freddy's _don't_ mess around."

And Nolan could tell when even a toy was speaking seriously and caringly. "Alright." He nodded. "Where do I find him?"

"A little rich girl bought him two days ago, the computer should have a list of purchases."

He made his way to the front desk where Sandman began to hack the computer. "Let's see, Shrek dollll, Mario Kart Racing Seeeet, Harry Potter broomstiiiick—Sector V action figures, holy wow! And _hah!_ Yipperman Plus, sold to Oliver Warbucks from New York City! Let's hit the streets guys, we're goin'-"

"Yorkin'?" grinned Crystal.

"Iiii… walked right into that one."

"It was only a matter of time, buddy." Yuki noted.

So with that, the heroes were rushing to the front doors, out of the store. "Call me!" Woody winked to Crystal.

"Uck!" She was over guys like him when she was 12.

**Cleveland neighborhoods**

Rupert, Timmy, and Hikari were forced to camp in the front yard of an unsuspecting house. It still had the natural camping experience, since the yard was as big as a forest. They gathered a few small twigs and had the Red Pikmin create a fire. The creatures allowed them to eat some of the remaining pieces of the monsters they caught today. Bulborb meat truly possessed a funky taste. Timmy and Hikari were already conked out, but Rupert was up and roasting a Bulborb chunk, staring reflectively at the fire. Normally, he would be sleeping nice and snug in his room, after Mom read him a nice bedtime story. He never thought he would be camping with a bunch of ant things. What a wild adventure this had become.

Rupert looked left at a Red Pikmin that had come up, staring mindlessly. "Oh… you want some?" He held the meat out. The Pikmin just stared and did nothing. "…I guess not." He took it back. "But listen, thanks for all the work you guys've been doin' for us. Heh, what I wouldn't give to have you around all the time."

"…"

"…How d'you guys feel about it, anyway? Doin' all the work for the Minish. Don't you all get tired?"

"…"

"…Sappo and Gibli said you guys were mostly just… weapons. Like, a means to an end. 'Cause you don't actually think for yourselves. You just… do what the Minish tell you."

"…"

"…I don't like to think of you that way. I like to think… you just need a little help getting around. And, you all support each other. 'Cause it's a big scary world out there. You know?"

"…"

"…Siiiigh." They weren't really good for conversation. "I should get to sleep. You guys'll protect us, right?"

"…"

"…Mm-hm." So with that, Rupert went to the other side from Timmy and Hikari and lied on the ground, head rested on his hand. He really wished he was in a comfy bed right now. The cold, messy soil, no blanket to cuddle up in. Even getting into that house didn't sound so bad, if they could rest on the soft carpet.

But then the Red Pikmin cuddled up at Rupert's front. On his back was a Yellow one, a Blue by his feet, a White near his head, a Wing on top, and a Purple one to hug them all. Rupert made a smile, and suddenly felt much warmer. As many other Pikmin began to surround him and his friends, Rupert surely knew. They would protect him…

**Sand Kingdom, South America; Sand Castle**

The Knights of the Round Towel placed the jar containing Sappo and Gibli on a shelf inside a dark closet. "STAY here and keep quiet. As if you could make much noise, ohohohohoho!" They shut the door and left them in blackness.

Sappo paced about their cell angrily while Gibli only sat. "How will we get OUTTA here, Sappo?"

"I'm thinking, Gibli. …And reaching nothing."

"I thought you were SMART!"

"AHH, can it. But Gibli, this is the place they got our princess locked up. We gotta watch ourselves, or they might do somethin' to 'er!"

"Like WHAT?"

_"Nooooooo! Oh, it's so awful. WHYYYYY?"_

Both siblings shuddered. "D-D-D-Did you HEAR that?"

"Oh no!" frowned Sappo. "Princess! What could they be DOING to her?"

**Upstairs; Princess Shelly's room**

"NOOOOO! It's so horrible!" Princess Gonshiri cried with the greatest agony. "NAAAAAAAHHH! Pleah!" She spat the fruit piece at her Red Pikmin. "I HATE mangos! Bring me some pie cakes!" The Pikmin marched off to do so. "Uuugh. Toss me some of those blurpleberries."

"Certainly." Shelly reached to the bowl beside her couch, grabbed a berry, and tossed it to Gonshiri. The self-called beach princess was lain relaxed on a sand-made couch while the Minish Princess relaxed on a cottonball on a table in front of the couch. "The only bad thing about servants who don't speak is you can't tell if they understand you."

Gonshiri began to feast on the giant berry. "So how are things at the school?"

"Ahhhhh just fabulous." Shelly smiled. "Seeing Shorts whine and cuss over my victories is music to my ears. Especially when he has no clue of my little… secret."

"Hmhmhmhm! Oh, well I can't take _all_ the credit." Gonshiri blushed. "It was your lovely feet that executed it in the end. I merely taught how to do so."

"Are you insinuating that YOU had something to do with my success?" Shelly smirked. "I was naturally born with my earthbending and I possessed the talent. Your blathering was just tiny noise in my ear that paid _no_ contribution."

"WHHHAT? ? !" Shiri jumped to her feet and faced her with a look of pure rage. "How DARE you talk down on me like some sniveling ANT, you…YOU…"

"Myyyyy _what_?" Shelly's gigantic, snarky face loomed closer. "You simple little insect."

Shiri couldn't be more angry. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" She leaped to Shelly's nose and munched as hard as her tiny teeth could. Her ant-size body was unable to pierce Shelly's thick flesh.

"PFFFAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Both princesses laughed joyously. Shiri jumped off and continued munching her berry.

"Ahhhhh." Shelly lied back on her couch, scratching that light itch on her nose. "You're the best part of coming back here, Bugsize. You may be a royal shrimp, but you know what we princesses want."

"Hmhmhmhm! Well, you may be royally STINKY, but you know how to stay on top."

"Well, staying on top isn't hard when those under you are just so puny. But don't your subjects still need someone to rule them?"

"Oh, a sea of buffoons is still a sea of buffoons even with one smart person among them. Besides, Lenari thinks he runs everything, he can have his glory. I prefer an individual who believes they can challenge my authority."

"Hm hrn hm. Five months and you still think you have more intellect than me. Ever since that day…"

_A boring day at the castle, Shelly kicking back, left foot over the right knee which was up in a triangle, as she munched an apple. Her knights walked in and bowed, "Princess Shelly: we hath brought to you, a new servant. A princess from a distant land."_

_She swallowed, "Princess?"_

_A knight placed a small jar on Shelly's table. She loomed closer, seeing an extremely tiny chipmunk-like creature in a purple grass dress and flower crown, yellowish-green skin and beady black eyes. "Hmmm… she looks kind of fun. Be gone, knights. I wish to play with my new pet alone."_

_"AS YOU COMMAND, Your Highness." The knights politely left._

_Shelly popped the jar open and dumped the tiny princess onto her palm. "All right, Toothcrumb, I dunno where you're from or if you reign over a colony of ants, but I'M Princess Shelly, and if you want a decent treatment here, you better start showing your respect and doing everything I tell you." The princess stood up, viewing the vast palm and the fingers that towered like mountains. Only a single part of Shelly's tremendous body. "First off, my nose is really stuffy and I need someone to get those boogers that're really far in. If I'm impressed with your work, you'll get to sleep in my navel and use my lint for pillows, otherwise it's the tootsies for you."_

_"AUGH!" With utmost disgust, the princess leaped down to the floor. "I will NOT allow some mere peasant to pick ME up, LET ALONE believe they can tell me what to do! And judging by the sorry sight of your toenails, I see you are NOT the kind of person I wanna associate with."_

_"Are you talking BACK to me?" Shelly stood with hands on her hips, so the princess could see the colossal oaf at full height. "Since your brain's too small for math's sake, I can understand if you're slow to following my language. But since you aren't bothering to listen more closely, I guess you'll have to start from the bottom."_

_"I'll have you know my brain is TWICE the natural Minish size, including the Minish brain you needed transplanted to YOUR empty, hollow head. But I see that experiment was a bust." She stood politely with her sleeved hands folded, eyes closed in a smug fashion._

_Shelly raised a foot, "I'm NOT giving you a second option. Apologize and show your respect, or you will not end up in a happy place."_

_"Hmph. _You_ are a simple, good-for-nothing oaf. Your parents were chimps, and you are their mutated result. You have no class, no self-awareness, all you are is a gargantuan tub of lard that will never be anything more than some donkey's last resort to lay their droppings." Shelly has never been more enraged, never more ready to explode. To think she'd be talked down by someone that could be mistaken as a piece of dirt between her toes. To think this simple, good-for-nothing insect thought she had say. In front of HER. The Fourth Grade President, Princess of Sand Kingdom. To think she could talk high and mighty, like SHE was the tall one. And like Shelly's foot wasn't looming over her this very moment. "Why, a donkey's bathroom would be lucky, your best chance is being an unsatisfying source for some leeches-"_

_Shelly's foot couldn't come down any faster. She put in great pressure, hoping this dirt was absolutely nothing now. Her foot stood half-buried in the sand for 30 seconds until Shelly raised it. The footprint was empty, but among the many grains of sand on her sole, the princess was nearly flat. She scratched lightly until the princess peeled off, regaining her senses back on the ground. …She couldn't be anymore angry. "…I can't BELIEVE you stepped on me, you…YOU… MOUNTAIN OF SKUNK POO!"_

_"… … … …PHHHAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Neither of them ever laughed harder in their life._

"Huuuu… aaaaaahhhh." Shelly touched her hand-size juice glass to Gonshiri's eeny, teeny, Minish-size one, and both drank. "But wow, I never woulda thought I actually had earthbending. I was already good at beating Shorts, now he's probably blowin' his brains out."

"It seems having far bigger eyes than I do allows you to overlook more than you see." Shiri said. "We Minish have advantage over such things. I see every intricate pattern along your skin, the very tiny follicles of hair growing in – dare I not mention, and only a royal buffoon wouldn't feel such an incredible flow of chi inside of those mountain-size feet. Honestly, I cannot imagine anyone more hopeless." She sipped her drink.

"Well, it certainly helps to know." Shelly shook her glass. "Heh, wait until I reveal it to Shorts and REALLY bury his butt! What's a bunch of teeny little bubbles gonna do, anyway."

"Princess." Shelly's Blue Knight walked in. "Your father wishes to know if the two of you are fairing well."

"Yes we ARE, you overgrown wombat." Shiri stated.

"Get lost, Victor."

"As you wish." He backed away.

"How did they manage to capture you, anyway?" Shelly asked.

"I was wandering outside my tree. I assumed it was some lost gorilla judging by those feet, but who'd've thought I'd be some lesser primate's filth-reliever."

"Well, whatever the case, you're much better off in our company." Shelly raised her glass.

"Indeed." Shiri smiled. "After all, what reason am I obliged to return to my kingdom, anyway? Though if I may ask, you being the princess of this, erm, what you call a kingdom, why not find yourself a nice prince?"

"Who do you think I am, some lovesick dope like my dimwitted dad? His ultimate weakness was that he focused more on finding a 'Queen', and focused less on ruling with an iron foot. No wonder why my mom left him."

"I can see what you mean." Shiri looked at her juice and shook the glass lightly. "Parents are such morons. The clearest example being your father conceived _you_. At least we're here to learn from them." She smiled.

"Well, _your_ folks ain't do too good a job with you, either." Shelly put her glass down and relaxed. "Still, buy me a hundred suitors or a thousand, 'cause I ain't suckin' face with no dreamboat for a long time!"

**KND Moonbase**

Sector V soon arrived at Moonbase and headed for the bridge. The base was fairly deserted at this time, except for Francis and Panini. "Hey, Francis; Nini." Aurora greeted as she caught her breath. "Did you hear about-"

"Yeah, Sector Q called us, said their leader and the Roundhead got kidnapped." Francis confirmed. "We've been trying to call GKND, but we're dealing with issues with the Earth treehouses."

"Well, we already got Sector IC on the case." Chris explained. "Let's hope they can save Maddy soon. So where's Bro?"

"Ehh, Cheren, um, well his mum called, he's off doin' somethin' private." Panini replied, scratching her head.

Artie and Haylee slapped dollar bundles in Harry's hands. "Hehe, but if it makes ya feel any better, we're keepin' contact through our 4DS's." Panini held the pocket-sized console up. "You know, so I can whup him."

"Well, isn't Bro the most helpful." Chris eye-rolled. "We thought he could give us some idea on where to go. Are we just gonna spend our whole quest flying around aimlessly, otherwise we ain't ever gonna-"

"Well, if I must give you that ever-dying satisfaction." A sudden voice nearly made their hearts stop.

"Midna? ?" Dillon gasped at the imp floating from a shadow by the office door.

"Oh well, I might as well, since I can't stand seeing you look pathetic. I remember back when your parents were trying to find _us_, even THEY weren't as clueless. You guys are _soooo_ lucky to have a Firstborn helping you." She gently took a seat on Dillon's head. "But I just hope _somebody_ doesn't have a series of episodes like their _daddy diiiiiid_." She bent upside-down and pinched his cheeks. The boy annoyedly shook her off as she returned to floating. "Anyway, here's my proposition where you should start: about 3 years ago, Hannibal Roy Bean rescued Zant from the Brookfield Insane Asylum, and now they've joined the Brotherhood of Evil, in which Bean is the new leader."

"Oh gee, our great-great-grandpa is stirring up trouble again." Mason eye-rolled with Haruka. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"Well, Zant is a Twilight Realm inmate, so naturally I want him caught, and Hannibal isn't safe to let run around, either. I know these Brotherhood guys have lost their game, but there's no harm in locking a few behind bars. Or seeing if they have any clues; if that matters."

"Well… it'll make good practice for when we fight the real villains." Aurora shrugged.

"Hey, where's Sheila, anyway?" Francis asked.

"Oh, she's dead." answered Mason.

"Saywhatnow?"

"She's asleep." Aurora eye-rolled. "I dunno what's up, she's been like this since we left school. Which she skipped. Yaaaaawn… and you know what, I am too. And we still got a ton of homework to do."

"If your mom is the principal, and SHE knows what's up, why is she still giving you homework? ?" questioned Dillon.

"Those who keep up with their studies can better keep up with savin' the universe!" Haruka spoke with a raised finger and a smart face.

"Then it's official we won't be doing any action today." Chris said. "And Arceus knows Sheila won't be, finally tuckered out after all this time."

"Yeah, I'm kinda tired with flyin' all day, too." Haylee said, stretching her back. "Whaddya say we do some homework, hit the hay, and go after these Brotherhooders first thing tomorrow."

"Siiiigh." Midna sighed. "Lazy humans. Just like a certain someone I used to know. Well, don't think I won't be there tomorrow to keep you on track."

"Like Mama's nagging over us." said Harry.

"I sure hope Cheren's home by the time we wake up." Aurora sighed as they all walked to the hangar. "'Cause I know something will go horribly wrong."

**Sector IC S.C.A.M.P.E.R.; Galaxia**

"You know, we should sing a song. Just to keep things spirited." George said.

"Look George, just because you want us to be happy like a bunch of goofy girls, doesn't mean we do." Terry stated. "…Present company excluded."

"Come on, Terry, I bet it'd be fun!" MaKayla said brightly. "Get our blood pumping, let's try! Ahem:" She swayed her head left and right and waved her index fingers, "Rainbow Monkeys, Rainbow Monkeys, all so very round, and-.."

"AWWW, NOOO, NOOO." The others begged her to stop.

"Let's just enjoy a nice, quiet-" But Miyuki's sentence was cut short when a sneaky spy popped out of the wire compartment.

"WHEEEE!" Suki flew out with the purest joy and scared everyone. "We're going on an adVENTUUUUURE! I'm so GLAD you took me, Sister-chaaaan!"

"NO ONE INVITED YOU!" they all screamed.

"Suki, what are you doing here?" Miyuki asked.

"I heard you were gonna go UPPYYY, and I wanted to go WITHIIIEE! And MOM told you to WATCH MEEE!"

"Siiiiigh, just great." Terry slumped in agony. "We couldn't go on one trip without the icemouth."

"Well, you wanted a more spirited ride." MaKayla sweatdropped as Suki skipped in place.

"Hm, hm hm, hmmmm." Suki couldn't look more carefree. She was wearing shoes and socks due to the warmness of the ship.

"Okay, Suki, you can come. But don't you wanna take a nap, it might be a long ride." Miyuki said.

"Are you kidding? I feel GREAT, Sister-chan! I don't feel TIRED at all! I'm so happy we get to-! ….Yaaaaaawn… not tired at all." Her smile was wide, but her eyes were half-closed.

"Hm hm hm. Go to sleep, Suki-chan." Miyuki smiled.

Before they expected, Suki's hands were folded under her cheek, fast asleep. Her happy smile ensured she was having good dreams. "Ugh, thank God." Terry proclaimed. "Gotta tell you, Miyuki, you know how to tame a newborn."

Miyuki kept her smile and watched her sister calmly as she slept.

**Dream Realm; Hall of Doors**

After that unfortunate bumping-into of the random construction site, Sheila regained herself after diving through the portal. The Hall of Doors was a beautiful place, a forest with the lushest green trees and colorful plants. The sky was pitch-black and lit with endless white stars, and its very image reflected off the river that flowed through the forest. The water was so still and clear, it appeared the endless stars of space lay right beneath them as well as above, and Sheila might actually believe that if she wasn't wet just now. Across the river from where she was sat a catapult that was launching nothing, and looked like the one she rode in the level just now.

"Welcome to the Hall of Doors." Murfy began. "World Map for your particular storyline. Here, you can enter ALL the areas of the Dream World. Just choose a portal and dive on in. Hey, we oughta make that a catchphrase! Dive on IN! Heh ha! That's trademarked."

Sheila saw the labels over the portals. She was just in _Toons in Trouble_, the next portal read _Christmas Dream_. She approached as the catapult vanished, and two Waddle Dees skied past this portal. "So'm I s'posed to jump in?"

"No, you're supposed to stand here and listen to repeating music. Whaddyou think, Sherlock? ?"

So Sheila faced the portal and took three steps back. She ran unflinching and dove in, excited for the next adventure. (Play "Snowy Fields" from _Kirby's Epic Yarn_!)

_Stage 12: Christmas Dream_

_Mission: Find the next Light._

A chill fell on Sheila's toes as she spiraled out of the portal. Her feet sank in the snow upon coming out, and a towering building of ice stood before her, snow falling everywhere gently. Sheila hurried to the front gates as Waddle Dees were skiing around the outside ice-rink, with one of them holding the key to open the gates. Sheila ran to it, throwing Light Fists, but the Dee tossed the key to another, and then another, and the cycle kept repeating as they swiftly dodged Sheila's fists. With that, Sheila decided to be more adventurous and ski around on her own two sandals, steadily making it to the current Dee and whacking him with her tail. It still tossed to another Dee pair, so Sheila kept the pattern going until all the Dees were down.

Sheila opened the front gates to the outer courtyard of the Christmas Tower. There were plenty of holes around the ice, in which a Muddibog switched around them, throwing ice chunks when it emerged, which only hurt Sheila a little. The enemy was still aggravating, so she punched Light Spheres everywhere as it quickly dodged, but one of the spheres ricocheted behind and took it out, causing it to drop a blue can. Sheila approached it curiously as it shone a great beam, watching as her very clothing changed blue, and metal teeth appeared on her knuckles.

"Wowzer, Sheila!" Murfy exclaimed. "You found the Swing Suit! With this, you can swing on Purple Lums. Not as long-lasting as _Rayman 3_, but we can't make it too easy!"

Sheila had to hop onto a square platform listing up and down along a ledge on the side of the tower, and from that ledge, Sheila could begin swinging some floating purple rings with eyes and wings—the Purple Lums, around the tower, until she arrived on a new ledge. However, another path of Purple Lums led backward and higher, up to a floating cage that contained some Electoons. Before the power wore off, Sheila made it back to the ledge, and from there climbed her way around the tower using a rugged portion of the wall. White Clubbas sat on platforms above parts of the wall and pushed giant snowballs down, an easy hazard for Sheila to avoid.

She made it onto stable ground before having to hop a series of small, one-platform, slippery Ferris wheels that spun around in vertical circles, making things really dizzy in Sheila's vision. At the wheels' end, Sheila bounced her way up a group of Bronto Burts flapping up and down. She made it to a foothold with a narrow path that spiraled up the tower, having to jump snowballs that threatened to roll her down, and were produced by a White Clubba. Sheila knocked out the Clubba once there, finally at the top of the tower where a small, blue bed lay. Tucked cozily under its frosty blanket, Suki Crystal.

"Mmmmmm…" As Sheila stepped closer, the child blinked her tired eyes awake. "Ooooooooh. Who're yooooouuu?"

"Hey Sunshine, up 'n' at 'em." Murfy rushed, pulling the girl to her feet. "There's someone lookin' to meetcha! Come on, let's go see 'im!"

"OKAY, Mister Scary-fairy!"

Behind this large tower, starting from the top, was a great, long, icy slide that stretched for miles. With great joy, Suki and Sheila began to slide down on their own feet, their skin feeling as though the wind would freeze them in seconds, but it made it so exciting. They went whipping fast going down the back of the tower, before the slide became more wide once they were going over the snowfield. There were plenty of palm trees, boulders, pitfalls, and skiing Waddle Dees, and many routes to take around these trees. The duo split up, and Sheila was lucky enough to find a route with an Electoon cage, busting it open as she passed. When she and Suki met up again, they locked hands and joyously skied together, Sheila swinging Suki above her, then landing back down as they spun around and around. But they tripped and began wobbling, just when they launched off the end ramp and facefirst in the snow.

The two sat up and shook the snow off, exchanging pearly-white grins. They continued over a snowfield as Hoodmongers charged out to blast them, Suki joyously throwing ice beams while Sheila pelted them with Light Spheres. They were easy enemies to take down, but their feet were scorched by tiny critters scampering up to them with bombs. They were originating from a Grim Keeper, a fat Hoodlum with a big wood shield standing with her back to a colorful red building. She released the Titbits from her dress, the duo fighting them back as they tried to attack the Keeper, but she kept her shield steady. "Gee, must I do EVERYTHING? All right then." With that, Murfy flew behind and lifted the Keeper's dress, making her panic as she lost guard and allowed Sheila and Suki to swing two light and ice beams around either side, taking her down.

They watched her Black Lum fly off and saw she was guarding a tiny door. Conveniently, she also dropped a plate of gingerbread cookies on a nearby table, so they suspected what they had to do. But before going, Sheila noticed a switch on the back of one of the trees—which they wouldn't see coming in—and proceeded to punch it. They heard a distant gate open, and after looking around, they found a square hole along the wall under the slide ramp. Sheila and Suki dropped down, seeing an Electoon cage hanging over a frosty pool. Suki froze the water while Sheila broke the cage, letting the 'lectoons land safely and walk out.

The kids climbed a ladder out of the hole and returned to the cookies. Both Sheila and Suki took one and munched it happily. A shriveling, sour sensation overcame them, their faces scrunching before their bodies shrunk into themselves. With a light twinkle, they had turned into tiny snowpeople, their snowy bodies sparkling white. They had no mouths, beady black eyes, and their clothes and hair remained the same. They felt only cold in this form, but a gentle kind of cold, and felt almost completely weightless. It was such a magical feeling.

They entered the tiny passage and found themselves in a massive Christmas workshop where many small elves worked lovingly in colorful clothing. Of course, the elves were giant since Sheila and Suk' were the size of toys, so they would have to watch their snowy forms. Elves took toys from a treadmill on their right, bringing them to shelves on the left, so the duo had to avoid being stepped on. They made it to a giant fence overlooking the wider, lower workshop below, where toys from this treadmill dropped to that one. Hanging from the ceiling were candycanes on candy chains, allowing the two to swing over the workshop. Of course, by swinging on them too much, the canes would eventually fall, leading their fluffy bodies to be splat.

A little toward the left was an Electoon cage hanging from a candycane, but it was much bigger than them and Sheila couldn't shoot Light Spheres in this form. Instead, the duo swung to that cane and swung back-and-forth until it was ready to fall, swinging back before it did. The cage smashed open, allowing the Toons to go free. The candycanes eventually brought them over a flaming pit at the top of a machine, and when the snowkids dropped in, they were thankfully flung out by two of many gumdrops popping out, flying all the way to a giant Christmas Tree.

The tinies slid a small slide that spiraled around the tree, ringing any jingle bells they passed by. They landed safely on a branch and followed it into the tree, avoiding as Baby Burts (basically Bronto Burts, but their size) brushed across the branches and threatened to push them off. This was just like walking around an actual giant tree, but with many giant candies and blinking lights that switched colors. It was kind of mazy with all the branches connecting to one-another, and some areas had hooks holding up ornaments. A strange force tempted them to hoist the hooks up and let the spheres drop, and so they did. The first one fell directly onto an empty cup on the floor, while others bounced branches that eventually brought them to a following cup. After getting lost in the branches, they found an ornament designed like a bomb, and when they unlatched it, it gently bounced down to an Electoon cage and exploded, very quaking and unsettling at their sizes. But the Electoons were free, so they can be happy.

After unhooking every ornament they can find, they navigated to the lower part of the tree, able to jump across the rows of ornaments stationed in cups. Otherwise they would fall to the red carpet, which looked pretty heated. The platforms brought them to a series of colorful presents they could run across like happy, little snowchildren. They made it to a blue box, but were too small to climb onto a tall green box. A few boxes back, a small light-red rubber ball (a few inches taller than them) was perched, and the two were able to push it along. Parking it under the ledge, they used it to climb on the box, and from there they slid down a ruler to a further box, pushing a green rubber ball off its perch in the process, onto the floor below.

They could safely drop to the floor now as they rolled their rubber ball across the vast plain. Giant Waddle Dees ran around the floor, probably looking for something to play with, so they had to be stealthy so they wouldn't lose their means of progressing. They made their way to a toy seesaw that was their size, the opposite end sticking up. Sheila and Suki stood on the lower end, used all the strength in their snowy bodies to lift the rubber and chuck it onto the upper end. The duo was flung onto a tiny walkway along the wall with a little mousedoor. Inside was a makeshift living room and house where a happy mouse family was having Christmas dinner. The mom cheered silently and decided to give them Red Lums, to rejuvenate any lost health.

The twin mice kids showed them the back door, finally bringing the two outside in the snow. A snow fairy appeared with a twinkly grin and pecked the two with her wand, poofing them back to normal. "I hereby congratulate you on your first—and probably only—Snow Shrink!" Murfy grinned. "Other levels'll probably have other shrink forms. Heh—but looking at this RUPERT kid," held up the manual, "he's gettin' MORE than his fair share! HEH HA HA! A'ight, on with the level."

They crossed a normal snowfield again as Hoodmongers ran at them, no stronger than before as the girls wiped them out. They were coming to an even wider, rounder tower with platforms and paths around it. A short, slippery snowhill led onto the outer ring, and since they couldn't walk up, they jumped some Waddle Dees that were skiing down. Before they headed up the stairs to the walkways around the tower, they explored this outer ground area, finding a cage placed in an empty back corner. After freeing the Electoons, they began the journey up and around the tower.

There were now Lemguins – penguins with very pointy beaks, sliding down the pathway on their bellies, threatening to knock the girls off their legs and slide down a few meters if they were hit. The Lemguins were fun enemies to score consecutive jump combos, and to avoid being tripped, Suki could freeze them in ice cubes, letting them still slide along like normal. They reached a dead end of this path where the Lemguins flew out of the hole, seeing the next path going the opposite direction but a few feet higher. Sheila bounced off an emerging Lemguin to reach and grab a blue can to get the Swing Suit, then held onto Suki as she swung a Purple Lum to land onto this path.

This walkway was made of mostly floating, moving platforms, where Doomtoons were swooping by like mini warplanes in attempt to push them off. Since Sheila still had plenty of time for the Swing Suit, they jumped across quick and found some Purple Lums led further up. The Lum trail turned about-face so the duo made it to a path above the previous one. Once again, they were faced with more large rolling snowballs that threatened to send them quite a ways down, so careful jumps had to be made. The White Clubba rolling them was perched on a tall platform, short enough to jump to as Sheila climbed on and knocked the Clubba down. She helped Suki up afterward as they entered a window atop this platform, taking land on a floor inside the tower.

The inside of this ice tower was very hollow and as wide as its exterior, the walls colored a yellowish-white, covered by wooden parts as they neared the wood floor, a red carpet going around its middle. There were two floors, and this second floor was a large circle going around an open center. Eight energy chains were coming from generators, four on each floor, and connected at a human-sized cage in the center, encasing in a barrier and keeping it afloat.

The prisoner inside, a teenage boy whose form couldn't be made out through the blue energy, noticed them. "HUH? IS SOMEBODY THERE?"

"Uhh? 'O IS IT?" Sheila shouted, looking around.

_"Over here! In this cell!"_ His voice was muffled by the barrier encasing him, but Sheila's raccoon ears could hear him. _"You've gotta get me OUTTA here! Break the eight generators making the chains! Hurry, before the things come back!"_

"Blimey." Sheila smirked and cracked her knuckles. "I'll 'ave these chains broken like a-" They jumped around when the window sealed above them. They heard a strange shuffling sound, looking to a nearby pipe when a swarm of little white rabbits, with frantic eyes and wide open mouths with few teeth, all piled in like a swarm of beetles that were flushed down the drain. "HIIIIEEEEE!"

_"Oh no! The Raving Rabbids! Don't try to fight them, just break the chains!"_

Seeing all the creatures storm in, Sheila exchanged panicked glances with Suki and ran. (Play "Vs. Dark Eco Plant" from _Jak and Daxter_.) The first chain was already close by, so Sheila could zip by and smash it with a quick punch. Suki tried freezing an ice wall behind them, but the Rabbids chomped through it like a cracker. They made little dancing motions as they chased the duo, but they couldn't study them for long as the Rabbids were quick to keep up, ready to swallow them whole in those giant mouths. A narrow strip of carpet led up a wall where it turned vertical, ending at a high chain generator, so Suki skied up with an ice path to break the machine herself. The girls had to dodge walls stationed in their path, where an Electoon cage was placed behind one of them, so Sheila smashed it quick while passing by.

Sheila then Wall Jumped up two parallel walls real quick to smash the next generator up top, then hit a Spring Pad to fling over the Rabbids to Suki. They came to a yard of brown goop spaces around the floor, which they deduced as smashed Rabbid droppings, so not wanting to get their feet dirty or trip, they navigated around. The next generator was across a pool of the brown substance, so Suki froze it solid, skied across, and destroyed it. A stairway suddenly appeared before them, letting them tumble down to the lower floor, where the circle continued. The girls navigated a tall maze hurriedly before the Rabbids caught up, where Sheila had to break certain parts that were cracked. After narrowly making it out, they broke a generator.

Lemguins began to slide out from ahead of them, across the narrow middle strip of path while the sides had spikes, preventing them from going around the penguins. They performed careful concise jumps over the creatures, seeing they were coming from a hole in a tall wall, so they had to bounce off an emerging Lemguin to make it onto that wall, where they smashed a generator. They dropped to the next path as Lemguins were now coming out going their direction, three different rows as they were coming to a large pool of Rabbid dung. Suki froze two of the creatures so either of them could get on one, Suki on the right while Sheila rode the middle. However, a floating Electoon cage was placed above the left row, so Suki froze a left Lemguin quickly so Sheila could hop over and break it open.

At the end of this pool, Sheila jumped to a long handle hanging overhead, swung around it, launched to another, and from there flew to the generator to break it. She joined Suki again as they dodged a few minor obstacles, eventually reaching a dead end under the stairway they came down. An ice statue of a handsome prince was stationed, the generator on his back. They skidded to a halt and, with a furious whirl of her fists, Sheila blasted parallel Light Fists and blew the statue to smithereens. The destruction of the generator seemed to cause an immense screeching alarm that forced the girls to clamp their ears shut, but mostly the screaming Rabbids. Unable to bear this pain, their bodies puffed until all of them exploded. The alarm died down as the girls uncovered, smiling and high-fiving. (End song.)

The last generator destroyed, the boy's cage was just floating in midair. "Wuh-oh." As fast as he said it, the cage plummeted to the floor and smashed open, flinging him out. "Ouch!" He helped himself up and rubbed his back. "At least freeze a snowpillow for me, will ya?"

Sheila never saw Suki's eyes and mouth grow more wide. "Jack _Frooost_…" She was almost out of breath.

"Hey there, Suki." He smiled cutely. "Thanks for saving me."

"'ey, what'm I, chopped walnuts? ?" questioned Sheila.

"Heh heh he. Both of you. I was trying to find Suki and tell her something when those guys captured me. Thanks for bringing her to me. Let me show you the way out."

Sheila followed Jack to a back corner of the massive cylinder where rested a flat, stone square tile with a swirly symbol. …For no reason, Sheila and Jack did a small dance where they spun, hands on their hips, and kicked feet in the air. This seemed to make the portal swirl to existence, so Sheila could fall in and return to the Hall of Doors. "Jack FROST Jack FROST Jack FROOOOST!" Suki bounced on her feet. "How did you get HEEEERE?"

"Well, I'm not actually him. Just a dreamself."

"A… dream?…"

"It was the only way I could contact you, Suki. I need you to go to Planet Glacia. Find the coldest, most blizzarding part you can, and that's where I'll be."

"But where is THAAAAAAT?"

"You'll know it once you're there." And with a charming wink, he blew away with the wind. Suki stood there in confusion before she was swallowed in brightness.

**IC's S.C.A.M.P.E.R., Galaxia**

"Mmmm…" Suki tiredly got up, rubbing her half-open eyes.

"Have a nice dream, Suki?" Miyuki smiled.

"Mmmm-hm. …"

"We should be arriving at GKND soon." Lola said. "Hey look, there's Planet Glacia. That's probly a fun place to visit in Winter."

Suki's tired eyes looked at the snow-white planet. Her eyes opened all the way in realization. "Oooooo! ! We gotta go there, we gotta go! Jack FROST is theeeere!" She tugged Miyuki's sleeve eagerly.

"The heck we do." Terry eye-rolled.

"Suki, how do you know Jack Frost is there?" Kayla asked.

"I don't know, I just dooooo! We gotta GOOOO, come OOOOON!"

"Suki, we're on an important mission, we don't have time to stop for-" But Suki approached George with a clenched lower lip and upward half-closed eyes that looked far too begging and demanding to just ignore. "Er-… Okay."

"WHAT? ! ?" Terry had to protest.

"She's probly just tired of all this heat, let her roll around in the snow for a bit and we'll get back on track."

"You have REALLY gotta stop playing IN ta her, _George_!" Terry hissed.

"Okay, onto Glacia we go." The leader declared. "Let's give Jack Frost his two ghost cents."

"YYYYAAAAAAAY!" Suki was so happy to go someplace cold. And ever so joyous to meet her Jackie again.

**Philippines; Roxas Park**

With absolutely no idea what to do, Sunni went to sit boredly at a park table. Her mom had randomly decided to train her by making her think for herself, by letting herself get kidnapped. The way Sunni clinged to her all these years, it was only a matter of time before her mom decided she had better things to do. But it was all so sudden, Sunni just didn't know where to start. So she just stared mindlessly at that white rabbit in the red jacket.

Now that caught her attention. What was a little white rabbit doing checking its watch? Now that's strange. Why did a little white rabbit have a watch, staring intently through his glasses? Now that's odd. Why did a rabbit wear glasses? 'Course he shouldn't be wasting time, he was clearly late for something. Now that's just odd, what would he be late for?

Sunni followed him with utmost curiosity, behind a lone tree where he disappeared. But a dark hole was lain below this tree, so Sunni crouched and carefully loomed forward, trying to search where this rabbit had gone. "…! AAAA_AAAAHH!"_ She fell in the endless chasm as everything turned black.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, seems Sunni fell and hit her head. She may as well go mad. So next time, we will head to Glacia, henceforth realizing why this is called the Frozen Saga. Dress warmly for the Winter, guys. ;O<strong>


	8. Death of Miyuki

**Aaaaaand welcome back to Grand _Seven Lights_. Here we see, why it is called the Frozen Saga. Here we go!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Snow Glows White on the Mountain! Meet the Spiritual Kids Next Door!<em>**

**Planet Glacia**

A mountain swallowed in a storm. Any soul wandering in this endless blizzard will no doubt be lost in the colds. No one would suspect, in the center of this freezing blackness, lay a marvelous blue castle made of sparkling, solid ice. Walking along this castle's balcony, a queen with hair white as the snows, skin pale and cold, high-heels made of ice, and a flowing, sparkling blue dress that matched her icy blue eyes. She glowed with an eerie green aura as her voice echoed beyond the mountains.

_The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_

_Not a footprint to be seen._

_Kingdom of iiisoLATION_

_And it looks like… I'm the queen._

_Don't let them IN, don't let them SEE_

_Be the good girl you always HAVE to be!_

_Conceal, don't FEEL, don't let THEM know_

_WELL, NOW THEEEY KNOOOOOOW!_

_Let it goooo. LET IT GOOO!_

She released a storm of ice across the mountains.

_Can't hold it back aaaanymoooore!_

_Let it gooo! LET IT GOOO!_

_Turn away and SLAM the dooooor!_

**_I_**_ don't care… what they're GOING to say!_ The queen soared over the mountains as a shining blue star, releasing sparkling snow all over the land.

_Let the stoooorm rage OOOOOOONNN!_ She hovered miles over the mountain, and let her voice be heard to all corners of the continent.

With that, she flew down, spun to the castle's front gate, and sang with a confident smirk, "The cold never bothered me, anyway." She slammed the gates shut. And so the mountains lay swallowed in the endless storm. A town long-since ruined lay on the grounds below this castle. Within these ruins stood an ice statue of a girl who reached out in despair, her face looking as if it was desperate for warmth.

**Sector IC's S.C.A.M.P.E.R.**

The blizzard blew powerfully in the skies above and they saw no ground in this darkness. "Lola, how far are we from target destination? !" George yelled.

"Dude, I'm blind as a BAT in this storm, I can't even SEE a destination!"

"I can't believe we're about to die following THIS girl AGAIN! !" Terry shouted.

"I second that." Miyuki remarked.

"Suki, are you SURE we're supposed to be going here?" Kayla asked.

"YEEEES! We just HAVE to beeee!" Suki whined. "I KNOW Jack Frost wanted me to go this way, I just FEEL iiiiit!"

"Right." Terry eye-rolled. "And WHO should we trust?"

"Look, I know it feels outta nowhere," Kayla began, "but I have a feeling Suki's vision meant something, so we have to try and-"

At that instant, the ship shook. "Something just hit us!" Lola screamed. "An overgrown snowflake? !"

"What's the status on the engines? !" George yelled.

"Not good… we're going down any minute. In the escape pods."

She smashed a button that locked everyone in an escape pod, Miyuki wrapping arms around Suki as they shared a pod. They shot from the ship and flew random directions. "DAAAAAAAHHH!" The sisters' pod hit a mountain, and they were suddenly spiraling out of control.

"Sister-chan, what's going ooooon? ?" Suki cried.

"I dunno, but just hang—AAAAAAHHHH!" With another forceful bump, both girls went flying out of the pod.

"MIYUKIIIII!" Suki cried, flying in the darkness.

"SUKIIII!" Miyuki called back, reaching for her younger in despair.

The explosions of both ships were the only light visible on this mountain.

**Poshley Heights Train Station** (Play "K. Rool Battle Intro" from _DK 64_.)

The city was roaring with rich types and fans alike as the Excess Express pulled to a stop. A team of four limos stopped on the street before the red carpet that led up to the train's entrance, the ecstatic fans blocked by thick red rope fences. The four big business tycoons were about to make their appearance and board the luxury train. The first to step out was Don Quixote Doflamingo, President of Doflamingo Inc., the Italian man in the pink feathery coat waving to his fans and sporting the twinkly smile. His son, Junior, daughter Sugar, and their friends Aeral and Bison joined him down the red rug, many women going gaga over them.

"Hnn hnn, just smile and wave, kids, give them a show." said Doflamingo.

"Ahhh, it's nice to be known and respected by those you don't care for!" proclaimed Doffy Jr.. "Isn't it, Sugy?"

"These people are loud. Tell 'em to die." She ate some grapes.

"Okay! HEY ALL OF YOU DIE! !" screamed Aeral.

"That's kinda rude-daizokun." Bison sweatdropped.

The next president was the gruff old man with white hair, a mustache, big triangle nose, and blue business suit. President of Pewterschmidt Industries, Carter Pewterschmidt, and his wife Babs in a red gown. They wore half-interested frowns as they walked the aisle. "Carter, please tell me you didn't order the strippers again."

"Look Babs, you get a hot-tub with Ted Turner, I got my own wants, you want things to work out between us we need to make some arrangements."

The next man to walk out was the tan-skinned man in a gray suit, black hair around a bald cranium, and triangle glasses. Ted Wassanasong, Laotian President of Ted's Golfing Galaxy, with his wife Cindy and son Chane, casually walked up to the train. "Now Chane, don't forget to mention your straight A's and head of the Pop-culture Club."

"Ahh, relax, Pops, the Chane Train rolls where the _ladies_ roll." Chane smiled smoothly.

And finally, the purple-haired mustached man in the red suit, holding a laptop faced forward. Gozaburo Kaiba of Kaiba Corp. kept stern and cool, the face of his son Noah appearing on the laptop screen. _"Wow, Dad, my first time going to a Presidents meeting! Will there be law books?"_

"Just keep calm and work on your studies, Son."

All four presidents and their guests gathered on the walkway before the door, guarded by a black-haired man with a big chin and blue suit with a tiny American flag badge. "Where the hell is Mom?" Carter asked.

"Already onboard." Stan Smith saluted. "I mean, you know how women get, gotta get on early. My daughter, Hayley should be done with inspections any moment."

Right on cue, Stan's daughter came out, a black-haired 19-year-old, in a simple blue suit, black high-heels, and toneless face. "All luxury cars inspected twice, food prepared from 5-star Chef Shimi, a peaceful, pampering ride is ensured."

"That's good, Hayley. Now go pick up my dry-cleaning, and keep the socks organized." Hayley ran off to carry her order. "Well uh, seems like everything's in order, I wish you safe travels!"

"Thank you, Agent Smith." Babs told him as the rich types all entered the train.

Sugar spared a glance at Stan and said, "That chin is creepy. I hope you get beheaded." He glared spitefully as she entered.

Within seconds, the wheels whirred to life and began rolling across the tracks. "Agent Smith to Director Bullock," Stan spoke in his walky-talky, "the bigheads are on the track."

_"Well done, Agent Stan. You can expect your bowl of sugar-cubes on your desk."_

"WAAAAAIIIT!" Everyone looked when Donna Tubbs, an African-American woman with black hair (wig), white shirt, and blue pants, rushed up the steps and bolted after the train. "TAKE ME WITH YOOOOUU! Ah wanna see Obama, Ah can't LIVE without OBAMA!"

With a desperate leap, she grabbed the back of the train and held on for dear life. She looked up when a security guard appeared and stomped her face hard. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!" She went plummeting down a steep chasm which the train rolled over on a bridge. Donna's husband, Cleveland Brown was waiting below.

Cleveland watched carelessly and expectantly as his wife smashed onto the ground before him. He hoisted her beaten and bloody body over his shoulder. "Let's go fix our house, Donna." He carried her away. (End song.)

**Onboard the train**

"FUUUUUU fufufufufu!" laughed Doflamingo, legs rested atop a curtained table, Mom seated across from him with fingers folded. "Ahhh, isn't this the GOOD life, Mom? You would know, otherwise you wouldn't be on here first!"

"Hmph. I reluctantly agree." She really didn't like him one bit.

"BRRRRREAKFAST is SWEEEEERRRVED—I mean, SEEERVED!" announced Chef Shimi, a brown Cheep Cheep with a chef's hat, and the train's chef. "And only the finest for the fine Corporate Presidents, from the very cookbook of Maitre Delish! A classic apple pie for one who can really appreciate it," he placed the pie in front of Mom, "the most chocolaty of Choco Cakes, the deluxe delicacy of the Chef Dyllis series, some Fried Shroom, Frozen Fries, Fruity Cakes, Hamburgers, anything fruity!, and what rich types wouldn't eat without a Gold Meal?" The tabletops were soon completely cluttered by bunches of the most fantastic, elegant foods anyone would ever hope to eat. "But shave your appetite, because more tummy-fulfilling goodies await you at the meak! DOME, this tongue of mine! I meant PEAK! Oh, and also 'save'."

Walt picked up a grouping of food bunched in a dark-green shell. "We'll just eat this in our room." He said with his evil smile, the trio heading to the back.

"GOOD, we don' wanna eat with the PIG sty!" Doffy Jr. taunted.

"Nuuuiii! Go eat back there-daizokun!" exclaimed Bison.

Walt, Larry, and Igner returned to their far back room, where Cheren sat on the low bunkbed and played his 4DS. "Hello. We brought you a Courage Meal." Walt said with his hoarse, maniacal tone, setting the food beside Cheren.

"Oh, cool." His eyes were glued on the game.

"What are you playing?" Larry asked.

"_Mario Kart 4-D_. So I can enjoy the smell of Panini's defeat as I ram her with my Mega-Wheel."

"Mommy lets us play with kindergarten girls so they'll buy cheat codes that rip them off- Ow!" Walt smacked Igner.

"Quiet, Igner. …You should _eat_, Cheren." The eldest brother smirked. "You will need your strength, for your secret assignment."

"The only thing I need to give me strength is squishing Panini flat." He looked more furiously and desperately drove his kart. "DAMMIT! Sigh, blue turtle shell. Weeell, uhhhh, eating's better any day than hearing Panini's taunts." He slammed it shut quickly and ate his Courage Meal. "Mmm. This good courage."

"It's made with loooove and Mommy Juice!" Larry was smacked for his stupid comment.

"So why _don't_ you guys hang out with the other kids?"

"Because we are grown men." Walt stated. "And have no time for the silly squabbles of children."

"That's not what Nebula told me." He swallowed. "How're those prep-school girls doing?"

"We're done talking about this." Sweatdrop. "Just keep hidden until Mom says to come out. The train will make it to the Midway Peak at 7pm tonight. We're keeping the door locked so no one will see you. This is a very important mission for Mom, and we intend to help her complete it. Bring you lunch later." The three left and sealed him inside.

Cheren set what remained of his Courage Meal on the nightstand and kicked back on the bunk bed. A peaceful, boring train ride to go and kill someone. That's what it was. He had to think long and hard about this whole plan, but had to hold onto the positive vibes Sheila helped him remember. He picked up his DS and opened it. _"HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"_ Panini hadn't stopped laughing for all that time.

**Glacia; blizzard mountains**

Miyuki groggily awoke in the vast, snowy wilds somewhere on the planet. "Mmmnn…" She held her aching head and tried to make out her position in the darkness. Even though it was dark and snowy, she oddly didn't feel that cold. Must be used to being around Suki. …She jumped to remembrance. "Hey, Suki. George? Where are you guys?" she called into the colds. "Huh?" Finally, she noticed a body a few feet away, sloppily lain in the snow. She hurried over to turn it face up. "Hu!" Her unconscious face bore its usual frown, eyes closed. "It's… me." She felt her body for warmth. "Am I… dead?"

A light, vicious growl was heard, and she jumped around to find herself surrounded by terrifying monsters with skull masks, and big holes in their chests. She tried to shoot a Chrono Beam, but nothing came out. She stared at her slightly intangible hand. "I am a spirit…"

With no way to defend herself, she crouched as the monsters dove in for attack. "AaaaaAAAH!" Right then, the first three monsters in front of her were struck by a sword, and they faded into darkness.

The other three sneaking behind her were surrounded by little rag dolls, which unwound and tied them in their stitching. Their yarn originated from a skinny girl with black hair and a black coat with an orange shirt underneath.

Next, a band of green, ghastly ghost skulls soared in and flew through the monsters, causing them to stop and shudder with fear. The ghosts were commanded by a short boy with brown hair that stood up straight, dim blue eyes, and a red coat.

"Merry CHRISTMAS!" This guy needed no introduction, Jack Skellington, in his Santa Claus outfit, threw present bombs that stunned all the remaining monsters.

"I think we've got 'em all." said the girl with the voodoo dolls, her and the others throwing the creatures in a single bunch. "All yours, Rukia."

The one who wielded the snow-white sword had jet-black hair with violet eyes, and a long black robe. "Then it's time your souls were free." She stuck her sword in the ground and began to wave and whirl her arms. Miyuki stared with wonder when two lines of snow began to rise and spiral around the creatures, glowing with a radiant light-blue. Rukia waved faster as the light grew stronger, quickly encasing the foul creatures. They roared to the heavens before they scattered into light particles toward the sky.

Rukia pulled the sword from the ground and said to it softly, "Thank you… Sode no Shirayuki.", then sheathed.

"I could work with you for a hundred years and never memorize all these names." The short boy said.

"Whoa…" Miyuki was still speechless.

"Sorry about that." Rukia told her. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No…" Miyuki stood up. "Who…Who are you guys?"

"We're the Spirit Kids Next Door. I'm the leader of Sector SOUL, Numbuh Hado-33, Rukia Kuchiki. That's Norman Babcock, Numbuh August 2012," she pointed at the short boy, who waved, "and Coraline Jones, Numbuh February 2009." The slim, voodoo girl waved with a bright smile.

"Don't forget about me!" Jack proclaimed. "Numbuh October, Jack SKELLINGTON!" He made a pose.

"He's not actually one of us." Rukia said. "He's just a friend of ours."

"But I _was_ dead at a young age." He noted slyly.

"The Spirit Kids Next Door? Why've I never heard of you…" Miyuki asked.

"Probably because no one among the living has. We were started about 15 years ago, by Doom and Widow Reaper, for children that have passed too early before their time. Our jobs are to help other children who've had such fates to find peace. And normally, our deaths are the results of stupid actions done by adults, anyway."

"Wait! Are you saying I'm dead?"

"That would be the case… why else would the Hollows be on you so fast?"

"Hollows? Those things?"

"Yeah." Norman answered. "You know how people either go to the Spirit World or stay in the Underworld, depending if they were good or evil? Well, in both cases, some people are still really attached to things in the Mortal World, so they leave the Spirit World in a desperate and hopeless attempt to resolve that thing."

"Spirits are supposed to be free from the bonds of the world after their death, but if they remain too attached, their spiritual energy becomes dark and distorted, and their hearts are lost. Afterwards, they become a Hollow." Rukia explained.

"That sounds familiar…" Miyuki recalled. "It sounds like the Heartless my mom told me about."

"Heartless and Hollows are in the same class. But while Heartless are born from still-living hearts, Hollows are born from spirits' hearts. But they both possess the same level of darkness, almost."

Miyuki looked down with sadness. It all revolved around the fact that, she was dead.

"Don't feel so sad. Your spirit may be here, but we're still sensing plenty of life force in your body." Rukia smiled.

Miyuki gasped, head shooting back up.

"Norman and Coraline are still alive as Halfas. Half-ghosts, half-humans. But even so, they're still able to assist the Spirit KND. And each Halfa is born with special powers that're mainly known in their spirit states. Just like how spirits are allowed to keep elemental powers if the gods say so. What I just performed on the Hollows there was spiritbending. I can scatter their disheartened souls in light so their energy may be reborn anew in the Spirit World."

"But it looked like you were… icebending there."

"Actually, the icebending is from my sword, Sode no Shirayuki. The spirit inside is an icebender, and she lends her power to me. Spiritbending is actually a sub-form of waterbending, though icebenders can use it, too. Not only can it scatter distorted souls, it can change the hearts of spirits who are on that verge between darkness and light."

"Hmm…" So much info for Miyuki to take in. She hasn't really trained with a longer attention span yet. "So, um, this Spirit Kids Next Door… you have your own treehouses?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Coraline winked.

"Methinks we ought to show her." said Norman coolly.

"It's gonna be a blast!" Jack beamed.

"Would you like to see?" Rukia inquired.

"Uhh… okay."

Rukia took Miyuki's hand as they all formed a circle. "WHOOOOOAAA…" Faster than she knew, a beam of light swallowed them and propelled them to the heavens. "…OOOOAAAAOH." And as fast as it came, it stopped. Even though Miyuki couldn't have blurred vision as a spirit, she still felt the sensation to.

"We're here… Miyuki." Miyuki stared up in wonder, mouth partially agape. A forest of giant trees, many pathways connecting to others, their branches filled with houses among the leaves where kids frolicked and played. It wasn't just all wood, but houses were brick, and marble, whatever material they wished, and there were hundreds of slides and fields for them to play games. Miyuki thought a utopia like this could only exist in dreams… but it was true.

_"Wow…"_ Miyuki still had no words as Rukia led them up a path.

"This is the utopia we've created for these children, should they pass early. We've ensured them… a peaceful afterlife."

Miyuki's spirit suddenly felt no woes, no reason to frown. She smiled and basked in all the positive energy in this realm. _…So this… is the afterlife._ …But then she remembered something, "Wait a second, if these are all children in the afterlife, then…"

"Yes. Children die more often than you think. Whether it's wars or adults' selfish desires… their time comes far too early. This is what we've designed for them, to give them what they couldn't have while alive."

"Then it's a cruel world after all…"

"I'm afraid it is. But Light exists at the same time as Darkness. Otherwise this Spirit World wouldn't exist. Everything in this world, from the oceans to forest, is made of a special energy generated by the positive feelings of the Mortal World."

"And the negative feelings make up the Underworld." Miyuki deduced.

"Actually, both feelings have an influence on both worlds. They exist on the same plane, so they share the same energy. But the Underworld's purpose is to contain the negative energy, so it doesn't leak into here."

"Is that why the Judgment System is held? Why some souls are thrown into prison, or into Sanzu?"

"Yes. This whole realm is based around happy thoughts or dark thoughts. If the souls of this world are happy, the Spirit World can flourish and ensure the Mortal World can be peaceful. But if souls are sad or angry, the Spirit World will become dark, and drastically hurt the Mortal World. And even though death brings peace to mortals, some build up great, evil energies during their lifetime, and the Judgment System is meant to sense that energy, to stop it from reaching here. Depending on the magnitude of the energy… the souls could remain in the Underworld as citizens if it's fairly low, they could be thrown in Sanzu if it's higher than that, but if it's _really_ bad, they could be thrown in Underworld Prison."

"What's Underworld Prison next to Sanzu?"

"As a prison, it's built more for the purpose of containing negative energy, but it's mostly meant for souls who had powers in their lifetime, benders per se. They connected to nature with their powers, therefore their influence spread to nature. That's why they had to be imprisoned. And in the deepest confines of that prison are the souls with the greatest concentration of dark energy, so great that the Underworld wants to forget their existence."

"Yeah, and that's where they messed up." Coraline mentioned. "Last year, there was a break-in, and one of the prisoners of that level escaped. Wanna guess who it is?"

"It was the dread pirate BLACKBEARD!" Norman exclaimed. "SCOURGE of the seas who rivaled Davy Jones, commanded hundreds of giant monsters and SCORCHED many towns with his dragon ship! RAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Yyyyyyeah." remarked Cora. "Anyway, the people who broke in to save him tried to free others, but things became too chaotic."

"So now Blackbeard is running free in the Mortal World?" Miyuki asked.

"They've determined he's still in the Underworld, but can't get any leads. Either way, it's out of the KND's boundary." Rukia replied. "We're focused on other matters. You do know what a 'ghost' is, right?"

"Yeah, it's…it's what we are?"

"Not really. A ghost is a fallen soul who never faced judgment, and may've returned to roaming the Mortal World as a half-dead body of ectoplasm, which is tainted Spirit Energy. Sometimes, they've still got a burden within the world, or they just like to run around and create chaos. But those that have burdens, and cling tight to them, will eventually become a Hollow. There's one particular ghost we've been focusing on for a few years, but it's been around for over 3 centuries. You saw the immense blizzard that was happening on Glacia's mountain?"

"Yeah?…"

"There's a ghost on that mountain with powerful Ice Chi that stayed with her after death, and her deep burden is causing her to create an eternal storm. It's been our duty to subdue this spirit, but we're never able to get close. And her negative energy has attracted many Hollows."

"So do you want me to help you stop it?"

"It's not your responsibility… but the fact your spirit showed itself to us while your body's alive, must mean there's power in your spirit."

"I should help, anyway. My friends and sister are still in that blizzard, I have to help them before they freeze."

"You don't need to worry!" Jack Skellington assured. "A friend of ours is already looking into 'em!"

"Hm?…"

**With Suki, back on Glacia**

"Mmmmm…" Suki woke up facedown in a mound of snow, having created a crater shaped like her body. "That coulda hurrrrrt. Good thing there was a lot-a soft, coooold snow to cool my fall."

Light footsteps slowly crunched through the snow, and Suki whipped to attention as a slim, shadowed figure approached her. "You're never one to stay down after you fall, huh?"

"Oh!" She jumped to her feet. "Who are yooooouuu?"

"It's me…" His body alit to reveal his shiny white smile, clear blue eyes, and snow-white hair, "Suki."

"Huuuuuuu!" And once again, her eyes and mouth took the form of wide O's. "Jack _Frooooost!"_

"Hey." He just loved seeing those joyful eyes.

**Wonderland**

Sunni indeed felt like she hit her head. Spinning and spiraling down an endless hole, where clocks, tables, couches, and TVs floated in a waving red dimension. In her swirls, she noticed a red and pink patterned floor down below, which seemed to be growing bigger as she grew closer. "Mmmf!" She landed facefirst on that floor, standing up and rubbing her head with annoyance. She looked up the endless shaft she had just fallen down. All those floating chairs and such were actually glued to the wall.

'Twas really an odd place to have built below the park. Wondering what it was meant for, Sunni walked down the snaky hall. A red rectangular door sat at the end, so Sunni turned the knob and opened. Behind it, a yellow door half as tall, and Sunni opened to find a blue door even shorter, and then a green door, a yellow door, until finally a tiny dollhouse-size purple door. "Hmmm…"

She whipped out her lightsaber and sliced the entrance down in general, entering a very small and cramped living room-like chamber, very arguably meant for dolls. She looked down, seeing the white rabbit—smaller than she remembers, rush into a small door and close it. She walked around the mini round table in the room's center and knelt down, tugging the door's golden knob to force it open.

"Mm-nn **I** say!" exclaimed the knob, making Sunni flinch. "You don't certainly intend to _fit_ in me with such luggage."

Sunni blinked her wide eyes a couple times. "Hey it's not MY fault the architects made it just to scale!"

"Now—if you _really_ want to fit, why not try the bottle." Sunni turned as a small blue bottle poofed on the table.

She took it in two fingers and held it by her nose, a faint, funky smell. With a raised brow, she gulped it down. "WHOA!" In seconds, she zapped to 3 inches tall, the large bottle bouncing off her head. "OUCH." With another annoyed rub, she stomped to the door and gripped its knob in both hands.

"Nn- Now-now, I forgot to mention I'm locked. The key is up there."

"GHHHHHH!" Trembling with anger, she looked as a key magically appeared on the table, many stories above. A bowl of small candies also appeared on the floor as Sunni approached. She took an orange sweet that read 'Eat Me', so she swallowed in one bite. "WAAAAAH!" She became the very size of this room, bumping her head on the ceiling and crushing the table beneath her Mary-Janes.

_"Mmp, I don't mean to offend you, Miss, but your bum is quite large, and it is…"_

She glanced down backward, feeling the door's knob poking the seat of her skirt. "Oh SCREW all this, why don't I use psychic? !" So with that, Sunni just closed her eyes and imagined herself shrinking, small enough so she can just enter the keyhole and forget about- "WOOP!" She shrunk in a single blink, so small she could crawl right under the tiny door. _"Uhhh… bit too much. Oh well, this will do."_ She jumped and tried to float to the keyhole- _"WAAAAAAH!"_ Smashed against the bottom of the hole like a bug hit by a swatter. _"Oaf!"_ She fell to the floor, shaking off the dizzy. She then just decided to crawl under the gap, seeing only pitch-black around her until she came to the light of the world beyond.

She was definitely in a forest, as grass towered miles over her like trees, and the real trees were impossibly tall. _"This seems oddly familiar… Well, better fix this first."_ She imagined herself growing larger, slowly though so as not to overshoot it- _"WHOOOOA!"_ But alas, all of the normal trees were as small as grass at her feet. _"MAN, WHAT IS WITH MY PSYCHIC TODAY?"_ her voice echoed for miles. _"I COULDN'T FLY TO A CANDY STORE WITHOUT FALLING, NOW I REACT FASTER THAN-"_

_"I say! How RUDE of you!"_ Sunni narrowed her eyes to the center, seeing a very tiny birdhouse on the tip of her nose. _"My worm stew was READY for waning before your sudden, interruption!"_

_"UHHH… SORRY. I'M A LITTLE-"_

_"WHAT ARE YOU, anyway? ! SERPENT! ! SerrrrPEEEEEEENT!"_

_"HEY, CHILL OUT, I'M NO SERPENT, I'M A HUMAN GIRL! I would say little, but I've been… well, really shifty lately."_

_"POLICE! Firemen! Milkmen! SERPEEEEEEENT!"_

_"OKAY OKAY, I'll put your house back, CALM DOWN!"_ So with more focus, Sunni zapped back down half as tall as the grass. "Oh, man! Why can't I shift back to normal? !"

"I daresay, you've gone positively mad." Sunni turned, her heart nearly stopping at the sight of the ferocious beast. It was a giant fat cat with dark- and light-pink stripes, sharp yellow eyes, big fluffy tail, and a wide grin.

"! …'scuse me?" she asked quizzically.

"What a peculiar head on your shoulders." He rolled onto his back. "It looks very unstable." He stood up, leaving his head on the ground. "Can you… stand on it?" He then began dancing on his head.

"…If I could, I'd rather not have anymore headaches."

"But it looks like it comes off." He put his head back on, standing on only his hind legs. "Looks very unstable. Like I can unscrew it with but a few turns."

"Yah—technically, but I assume you're implying that my mind is unbalanced, that's why my powers are suddenly hard to control."

"Actually, your powers exist _because_ you're mad." Got back on his belly, resting his chin on his wrists. "Like this whole world. Everything you see was created by mad people. Everyone _here_ is mad. Your _powers_, in and of themselves, are pure madness. So it would just be _mad_ to let them roam here."

"So you're saying that… this place concentrates strong Psychic Chi, that's why my powers are acting so strongly and out of control."

"No, they're acting more in control than ever. They were founded by madness. _Your_ madness. This world helps to emphasize that. Since you so constantly ignored it."

"Ugh! Look, if you're such an expert on that, teach me psychicbending!"

"Why do I need to." A sly grin. "You're already taught. Deep inside your head. Perhaps if you unscrew and take a look…"

"Look, I DON'T know psychicbending, okay? ? I could NEVER control it, I REALLY can't control HERE, so I can really use help before I get eaten by a flower or a pebble or whatever the f&*% is ALIVE around here!"

"Strange… your head is awfully familiar. I was wondering why you hadn't remembered the key this time. I guess four times _isn't_ a charm."

Sunni raised a brow. "You're saying that… my mom was here a few times?"

"It could be your mother." Rolled on his back. "It could be others. Different people, each time. Same people, a few or more times. All your heads looked the same to me. Maybe one of them left theirs here. If you search around, you may find it."

She cocked the other brow. "Meaning there's somebody here that can help me?"

"I don't know. No one's much help here. Even you. Even me. They're all mad. So you might lose your head trying to talk to them. That should help you some. Mmmmmm, _'twas Brillig…"_ The cat's body faded to nothing, and slowly, his head was disappearing, _"And the slithy toves, Did gyre and…"_ Only his shiny grin was left, before it was gone.

Sunni rolled her eyes. Well, no sense using her powers now. Guess she would just have to find this person and get their help. This'll be fun… (Play Wonderland's theme from _Kingdom Hearts_.)

_Stage 13: Wonderland_

_Mission: Find some stranger to get their help._

_Act 1: The Rabbit Hole_

Sunni started her adventure through the Lotus Forest, passing many colorful flowers whose petals were closed. She decided to approach a yellow one to ask why it was closed. It said, "Do a shockwave for me," so Sunni jumped and slammed the ground with a Psycho Shockwave. The flower opened and spit out a bunch of bubbles that filled her energy meter. She didn't bother with other ones yet, but when looking around she found this area was fairly enclosed, only a large boulder, platforms too high to reach, and a small pond. She talked to a red flower beside the pond that said, "Give me red berries and I'll make you bigger." She looked around, seeing some red berries growing above a high platform, but in her attempt to pull them down with psychic, her immense power squashed them.

They grew back, but she knew she had to look for another way, anyway. In a small, back enclosing was a whitish-blue flower that requested Bubble Berries. She looked around and found said berries growing above the door, jumping up to cut them down with her lightsaber. She brought the berries to the plant, and as it chewed them, released a large bubble that Sunni could hop onto as it floated to the high platforms. It was a matter of simple jumping before she got to the red berries, cutting them down before feeding to the red flower.

It sprayed a magic dust that stretched Sunni to normal size in seconds. The forest felt a lot more cramped, as if it was literally meant for mini people. The boulder she had encountered was smaller than her hand, so for no reason, she decided to kick it in the pond. Two lilipads in the pond suddenly stretched into platforms, which would let her hop over a wall of grass if she were little. She tried to walk to the other end of the path and- "Ow!" hit her head on a branch with a round platform. "Ugh! …" She noticed the tiny coconut on said platform, deciding to take it. Out of annoyance, she decided to push that branch, but this turned the whole tree- "Oh!" bumped her head on the branch that came around. Having enough with this height, she munched the coconut and shrunk back to 3 inches.

She bounced up the risen lilipad platforms and over the grass to reach an enclosed area. There was a row of bellflowers that requested lightning, but Sunni had no such power… yet. She entered a doorway that seemed to have warped her- "Whoooa!" for she was suddenly in the Bizarre Room on one of the walls, having slipped out of a hole on a shelf. On the wall, meaning, she literally stood on it like a floor, for her gravity seemed to have shifted. All that was on here was a blank white canvas, some unlit torches, and a teddybear sitting on a (sideways) shelf. Curious, she decided to cut the rope holding up the shelf, letting the bear fall onto a seesaw below that flung a paint can up to the empty canvas, and created a beautiful picture of a starry, nighttime hillside.

Sunni dove into the painting, and before she knew, was swimming in a liquid dimension miles above the vast fields under the calming night sky. Though to Sunni, it felt just like flying, swimming in the air, except she had to hold her breath. She was swimming directly up to the full moon, where the current seemed to push her, until she swam straight through and fell out of a small waterfall in the Lotus Forest. She resurfaced in this small pond and climbed back onto a new land, discovering she was on the second floor of the forest. She had to jumped across a few platforms that seemed like wide lilipads, then found herself on one side of the tree she turned earlier. Its platform branch helped her in crossing a gap, though if she glided over, she would slam forcefully into the parallel wall. Her shockwave earlier stretched a little farther than it should have.

The following lilipads were smooshed under the thick leaves, so Sunni was forced to sidle across what little thin bits remained. Naturally, Snapdragons waited in holes above and tried to snack her, so she beheaded them with her lightsaber. She made it to a vine-made ladder and climbed onto a higher path, which was very wide and had three different doorways at the end. She hurried over and peeked inside each one; the left seemed to drop her back into the first part of the forest, the right dropped her back in the Bizarre Room along the wall, but the middle one was too high to reach.

But Sunni then noticed the red flower seated near the entrance to this path. She walked over and asked of its query, and it replied, "I'll make you big if you cut my hair." Noticing the out-of-place green vine growing from its top like a hair, Sunni jumped up and sliced it off. It sprayed a dust that stretched Sunni to "normal" height. She was too large to fit back through the gap to the lower forest, but when she approached the now-tiny doors, it looked as though they were dominos leaned against the wall. She took the left one and set it on the ground below the middle, then laid the right one on it diagonally against the wall, so it served as a bridge to the middle. She saw another coconut on a ledge, having to reach her arm all the way up to grab it, then took a bite to shrink back to normal.

She was able to enter the higher door, finding herself on the parallel wall of the Bizarre Room. She was on the right side of the chimney shaft, having to find a way to climb up it. A wilted plant was on the floor below, and above it was a shelf with a cup of water. Since it was sideways where Sunni stood, she got underneath and pushed up, shoving the cup off its perch and onto the flower, making it stand to life as vines stretched up for Sunni to climb onto the chimney's exterior. The other side had a (sideways) faucet aimed at an empty pot, but its handle was round and fairly large. Instead, Sunni walked to the chimney's entrance and jumped inside, ended up sliding up the shaft and out the top hatch, suddenly right-side-up and using the hatch as a foothold.

From here, Sunni jumped to a lower dish shelf, then jumped to the faucet handle. The arrow pointed counterclockwise, so Sunni ran in place in that direction, turning the handle as a result. Water came pouring into the pot, and on pure instinct, Sunni jumped in with the current. She ended up coming down a short waterfall into a sewer pipe, where she stood up on its floor where the shallow river flowed. The pipe eventually ended over a chasm where the water streamed down, but when Sunni turned a small lever on the right, the water suddenly flowed across the rightward wall after leaving the pipe. This allowed Sunni to cross this wall along the river's flow, eventually into another pipe that appeared dark and bottomless. However, she could walk on the pipe's side with the river flow, passing through carefully as she was blinded within this darkness. She came to a lit area, and, to her distaste, the water flowed into a trollface. Entering said face would probably lead her to an unwanted area, so she went back.

Outside, Sunni turned another lever and made the flow shift right again, so she could walk UP the wall. The river made it to the ceiling, where it flowed up vertically from Sunni's view, but allowed her to shift gravity nonetheless. The river flowed past the ceiling, up (down) the following wall into another pipe. It also flowed past a lever on the ceiling, but Sunni first decided to follow it into this pipe. After passing another wall of blackness, she found another trollface. Angered, she returned to the ceiling and turned the lever right, causing the river to make a complete loop around that area. She was able to get to another lever, which she shifted to make the looping river go up (down) an alternate wall, into a pipe. However, this pipe had river come out from the opposite end, signifying it's the pipe she came from. She walked down, entered this pipe, going across its ceiling 'til she made it to the mini waterfall, which the new river flowed up and into.

Sunni crouched and entered, ending up falling to the ceiling of the Bizarre Room. After roaming around, she discovered a wood door lodged into the chimney's top. She went inside and found herself at a beautiful hedge garden under a sparkling night sky. The smell of tea catching her nose, Sunni passed through to the center, where a curtained table stood. (End song.)

Sunni made it to a peculiar Tea Party, where all the chairs around the rectangle table were different shapes and sizes. A pale woman with light-blonde hair and a blue dress stood motionlessly, holding a teapot with three mouths over six cups, pouring. "Ummm… excuse me?" Sunni walked up and asked with confusion.

"… … … .. . Hello." It took her a while to respond. She spoke with a quiet, British accent.

"Is this, um… you live here?" The answer was probably 'no'.

"… . Am I alive?"

Close enough. "So, umm… thing is, I'm a psychicbender, I'm not very good, my powers are really wonky in this world, and someone said… someone could…"

"… … . . Did you try painting your powers?"

"Uh-… what?"

"Paint them a different color. You might like them better."

"How will THAT help? ? For one thing, it's intangible energy so I can't paint, and I never had problems with the color blue at all, what does it have to do with my-"

"Then perhaps try talking to them. Understand each other."

"… … …" The magic cat was right, she isn't helpful.

"Would you like some tea? .." The woman presented the six cups, stopped pouring.

"…" Sunni walked over and had a seat, drinking a cup.

"So what seems to be the problem?"

"I told you, my powers are acting crazy in this world. I guess 'cause there's a lot of Psychic Chi. This cat said someone could help me—I think—but I've been getting lost every which way, and I need to get better at psychicbending so I can save my mom." Another long sip.

"… . . Did you say 'please'?"

Sunni slowly put the cup down with a disbelieved stare. "What?"

"Did you ask your psychic kindly to help you? All you'd have to do is ask."

"… … . Literally ask my psychic to help. You're serious?"

"Nope!" A black-haired man walked by just then and had a seat at the farther end. "I'm over here! A cup for me, Alice!" He grinned brightly.

Alice hopped up, walked across the table, kicking several cups, and poured some tea in Sirius's cup, the other mouths pouring tea onto his lap as he flinched. "Wait a second, what's HE doing here!" Sunni yelled. "Sirius isn't in Wonderland!"

He put his cup down, "Just thought I'd drop by 'fore my weekly bowling trip with Chronicler. Funny, the oldspaper reported someone mad coming to visit, but I was expecting someone else."

"You mean my mom?"

"Well, yes…" Sirius looked down, "though there is someone _else_ I had wanted to meet. If you see your mother again, do ask her to drop by, will you?"

She slammed her cup down, "Well I CAN'T unless someone helps me with f&*king PSYCHICbending!"

"Is it wearing a condom?" Alice asked.

"… . . . . ." Sunni had no words at all to reply to that. "Could you please show me the exit?"

"Over there." Sirius pointed.

Sunni looked at a mirror behind her chair and walked over. Staring longingly at her own reflection, it felt as though her very vision began to zoom on her reflection's pupil. Zooming closer on the pitch-black dot, her vision began to spin, going closer and closer to the light at the very end of the darkness.

Sunni blinked, suddenly awake at the table in Roxas Park. She turned to the tree that had the strange hole she fell in, wondering if it was still there. …She decided to get up and walk away. "What a waste of my time."

**Sabaody Park, Canada**

With what remained of Jessie's bubbles, he and Sandy floated all the way to Canada on a bubble boat, the morning sun just coming over the horizon. "Yaaaaaaawn." yawned the First Grade President. "Fin'ly, sigh… we m'de it."

"Poor Jessie." Sandy patted his back. "You should rest. Let _me_ gather the bubbles."

"Nnn, I m'h not be able to beat some *** 4th-grader, but I can sure as *** git me some f'kin' bubbles. Now c'mon Sandy, le's get enough I can sh'vve down Shelly's… rrrrREAR side!" He wobbled forward.

Sandy shook her head with worry and sadness. "Oh, Jessie." But decided to follow. (Play "Downtown Bikini Bottom" from _Spongebob: BFBB_.)

_Stage 14: Sabaody Park_

_Mission: Get more suds for Jessie's bubbles._

_Act 1: Bubble Park_

Sabaody Park was a lush green forest of vertical striped trees, with green and cyan stripes. It reeked of what smelled like bath soap, as thousands of bubbles puffed from the soapy trees and were hovering across the air. There were Fodderbots roaming this small enclosing, in which Jessie went around and knocked them all out with a swing of his Bubble Wand. There was no way out of the enclosing except for a few platforms of varying height that emerged tiny bubble jetstreams, too light to lift the twins up. However, both hopped onto a floating Bubble Bike, rode over the lowest stream, and let it gently lift them higher so they could glide to another platform, then another, before they could float to the new ledge.

But an inconvenient tall step prevented their bike from going further, so they climbed off and up the step. They overlooked a village area of colorful tents in a gorge, in which Sandy whirled a lasso like a helicopter and held onto Jessie as they floated down gently. An Arfbot was roaming the village and releasing mini Arf-Dawgs, Sandy roping each one and tossing them aside. Jessie, still unbearably tired, hurried forward to deal a quick whack against the robot, making it jump a few feet back. Jessie waved his wand around to send a Bubble Torpedo his way, but recalled that his supply was a little decreased at the moment, so he just had to chase the Arfbot and whack him again. But then the Arfbot leaped onto a higher ledge, where he could throw Dawgs at the kids safely, but Sandy simply roped a Dawg in her lasso and tossed it up at him.

The robot exploded, a trampoline seemed to slide out of one of the tents. The siblings bounced up to the roof and landed in a cannon, in which the only place to fire was a spring pad on another roof. They shot there and were bounced to a snaky metal pathway, where they had to jump thick bubble boulders as they progressed up. The path sloped upward while still snaking until they were finally brought above the high cliff, where the Fodderbot working the bubble cannon waited beside a Soap Tree. Jessie rushed up, knocked out the robot, and disabled the cannon. Having arrived at the first tree, he scraped some of its suds off into his bottle.

With that, they returned to the village as Jessie was now able to make Bubble Bowls. The only way out of here was a narrow, snaky road between close walls, but no actual path, just bubbly rails. Beside it was a small cannon which Jessie swung a Bubble Bowl into. The sturdy, round ball was inflated to three times its size, allowing Jessie and Sandy inside. With this, they could roll down the rail trail, going whipping fast before they launched off a ramp onto a carved trail in the ground. They carefully navigated around robots and large holes, in which one of the holes had a small bridge over it which they could cross slowly, and retrieve a sock. The trail eventually ended over a deep canyon, where the kids had to roll the ball over floating slow-spinning platforms.

Naturally, some platforms moved up or down, forward and back, and much trickier to get onto on this ball. The platforms eventually brought them to a U-shaped slide and could barely alter their speed as they were going down. It was a matter of dodging spikes and pitfalls before they went up more rails and through a hoop of fire. "WHOA!" cried Sandy when the bubble instantly popped, grabbing Jessie and swinging the convenient bubble hooks above, to land them on a new ledge. Tar-Tar robots were shooting their infamous sauce around another tent village, and threatened to swamp the whole area. Jessie whirled his wand and sent Bubble Bowls to take out each one; but upon finishing, the siblings looked to the cliffs above the village as robots appeared to be sawing Soap Trees down, throwing them in wagons. "Hu! Why are they cutting down the forest?" gasped Sandy with horror.

"Because they're _bitches_…" Jessie wobbled. The twins progressed to a lower, playground area with bubble-used rides, which were hovering several feet. They got on the mini merry-go-round and spun it around and around, a bubble stream coming out its bottom as it hovered. From there, they hopped across the midair rocky-horsies to a floating swingset, both taking a swing and building momentum. They then flew up to a bubble-lifted slide, which was thin, long, and curvy, kept aloft by several bubbles. It was just their size, making it easy to slide down and fly off onto a new ledge. They were on a cliff overlooking another deep chasm, but to the left, Jessie first scraped more suds off a Soap Tree. Then the siblings crossed a plant that ended under a floating stack of bubble blocks. Using a Bubble Bash, Jessie leapt and hit the stack, causing them all to fall and stay in place over separate parts above the chasm. The kids could jump across them, followed by Sandy swinging a bubble hook to land them on a soapy slide.

They couldn't stand on this solid slide soaking with suds, so they had to dodge bubble boulders being fired from cannons, spike traps, and the average enemies. The slide ended at one part and forced the kids to jump far-apart floating bubble fountains, still sliding as they made the careful jumps. On the following slide which curved left, they had to bounce bubble springs that propelled them to higher parts, lest they fall to their death, but this final slide would soon bring them to a grassy spot at the forest's edge, overlooking the distant sea. (End song.)

But a shining light many miles in the heavens caught their eye, so they jumped the steps to the coast for a closer look. Whatever this bright thing was, the moment it crashed into the sea, it created a tremendous explosion, Jessie creating a bubble shield to block the resulting strong wave. Jessie lowered his bubble when the area was swallowed in steam. A huge, dark force began to rise within the gray, growing closer, before it came to a halt with a loud release of steam. A door opened as a bridge stretched over for them to cross, and they saw lines of lights in whatever just opened. "…J-Jessie!" whispered Sandy as her brother was lazily walking forward. Mind racing with thoughts, Sandy reached the conclusion to follow him. (Play "Mansion of the Deep" from _Rayman Legends_.)

_Act 2: Undersea Mansion_

The siblings rode a large elevator down a diagonal shaft lit with lights. It came to a stop before a huge, wide corridor where robots were on patrol, in this case Sleepytimes, snoozing robots encased in a searchlight. Jessie and Sandy quietly tiptoed through their lights and across the floor, reaching a center wall where they grabbed and climbed across three different ledges before getting on top. The next part of the room was a floor of red tiles, with a single yellow one beneath them. They dropped down to it, causing a trail of yellows to flash to existence before they became red. Seeing this before, the siblings carefully memorized the yellow trail and followed where it was, lest they be shocked by the reds. Jessie's Bubble Bowls actually got shocked by the reds, so they used them to see the path better. Once safely on the other side, they noticed another sock on a far left tile, so another hidden trail would lead them to it. After testing several tiles with the Bowl again, Jessie soon found his way to it.

With that, they continued to a round-ceiling corridor that went up and curved right, leading to a hall with aquariums within the walls, containing unique and exotic fish, and a dark chasm for a floor. A platform was beside the foothold across the chasm, and Sandy could rope its hook and pull it over, letting them ride it across afterward. For the next chasm, some pegs were stationed all around the left wall for Sandy to swing across, but the following tunnel was barred shut. Sandy roped her way up the pegs to the ceiling, then swung some hooks on the ceiling to a platform with a switch. But when she pressed the switch, she was barred inside, while the tunnel opened. She was free when she stepped off, but the tunnel sealed again. "Um… Jessie?"

"Mmmm…" Still half-awake, Jessie inflated a bubble to float him across the chasm, passing the tunnel to an enormous room of fishtanks and pipes flowing with suds, as the substance behind the glass bared that smeary, colorful presence. _"With Chum Industries' special Squeaky-Clean Suds, we can safely assure the future well-being of your ocean and wildlife. We've taken the liberty of giving the fish new homes until we can work out the pollution issue, we promise to return them all to their rightful places as soon as I am made supreme ruler! Eh he he he he!"_

Jessie didn't understand nor care what that message was. He began roaming around the room as Monsoon robots and Chucks sent storm clouds and missiles at him. Jessie spotted a vertical pipe in a far right corner, and a platform around it several stories above. Jessie climbed a ladder onto a nearby fishtank, having to balance a thin board over a tank of Bonefish. Once across, he climbed a ladder onto a tank filled with jellyfish, where several large ones rested at the surface and sank up and down. They also electrified for a few seconds, so Jessie was careful in hopping across. He made it to a series of metal poles, having to climb them and kick to the next, while avoiding the Sparkies; little electric balls that moved around the poles. He finally made it atop the platform around the pipe, where a faucet conveniently was. Jessie turned it, let the suds flow into his bottle, and had more to go on.

Jessie was able to send Bubble Buddies around the room and distract the projectile robots trying to kill him. He then dropped down and returned to the previous room, telling Sandy to get off the switch. He then blew a Bubble Buddy up to where she was, and she pulled and positioned it above the switch before jumping down, letting the bubble press it down instead (wow, he was bulkier than he looked). They returned to the huge room where Sandy roped a high peg between two fishtanks, pulling Jessie up with her as they landed on the higher tank. They had to swing a row of hooks across the tank of electric eels, but with two Chucks threatening to blow them off, Jessie blew a Bubble Buddy to distract them.

Once across the tank, they jumped a few platforms to a tunnel that curved downward, made of glass as they had a terrific view of the sea, er, aquarium outside. The tunnel eventually led into the water itself, so Jessie threw a Bubble Bowl against a pump cannon to increase its size, the twins getting in and rolling around inside the aquarium. They had to zoom past 3 propeller switches while avoiding Torpedo Teds, opening the gateway to a new tunnel. They rolled up a slope and across a flat floor, carefully avoiding red security lasers that scrolled up and down, left to right, and/or both. They reached a chasm with two small platforms that floated up and down, having to wait for them to get low so they could carefully roll off, their bubble floating softly across the pit due to the water.

They rolled off on the new path, up a slope that curved right, and resurfaced in a small room alit by torches, touching their bubble to a fireplace to pop it. A pair of huge wooden double-doors sat before them, Sandy roping their handles to pull them open. They progressed down a torch-lit hall to a small, pumping room where another faucet lay on a pipe. Jessie held his bottle underneath and turned the handle to collect more suds. (End song.)

_"HNN hnn hnhnhnhnhn!"_ But instead, a huge, brown bubble with a devilish grin grew to existence and out of the faucet. "Hnn, he was RIGHT!"

"J-JESSIE! That's the.."

"Dirty Bubble." The boy glared.

"Hrnhnnhnn, what're a couple of KIDS doing in our mansion?" the bubble grinned wickedly. "Well, I know just what to do with you. _IN TO THE BUBBLE DOME_, huhohoho!" He floated overhead and smashed the kids into his dirty bubbly body.

_"Nnnnn! Jessie, do something!"_ cried the sister, but Jessie appeared more tuckered out than ever.

"Awwww little guy's tired. That's whatsa get fer stayin' up so late, kiddies. But don't worry. I'll make sure you get plenty o' rest, hohohohohohnhooohhn."

**Glacia; with Suki and Jack**

"Jack FROST Jack FROST Jack FROST! YYYAAAAAAY!" Suki alternated between feet as she hopped in place. "I KNEW you wanted me to come here, you NEVER lie to meeee!"

"Heheh. I just thought the summer heat was making you melt, you wanted to get your toes cold again."

"You BET I do!" Remembering the extreme cold around her, Suki joyously kicked off her shoes and socks and wiggled her toes in the snow. "I feel JUST like an ice cube agaaaaain! Thank you for bringing me here, Jack Frost! I- …" Her face sunk a little. "But what about my sister? And my fwieeends?"

"They're all fine, Suki. We wouldn't let anything bad happen to them."

"Then we GOTTA go FIND theeeeem!"

"Later, Suki. But first let's talk about the reason I led you here: to hone your icebending."

"But I'm a GREAT icebender! Seeeeee?" She swirled the snow before her and created a mini snowcastle with tiny citizens.

"Heh heh heh! You're very talented, but you don't even know the basics of bending! And even the greatest benders need to know how their power works to be perfected at it." Jack spun and swirled a snowy throne that raised him to the air, taking a seat. "Then you'll realize you never felt closer to the cold."

"But I ALREADY feel so cooooold!" she whined with her joyous smile. "Do I really need to feel so shivering, my blood stooooops?"

"Maybe you do, Suki." Jack still smiled. "I just want you to know, there's a thing as being too cold. And depending on how in tune you are with your chi, that extreme cold could be your greatest ally, or the tool of your destruction."

"Why would the cold destroy me? I though the cold LOOOOOVED me." She frowned in mock sadness.

"That's why it's important for you to learn about chi." He hopped down from his throne. "So you'll learn how to bond with it."

"What's chiiiii? Is that short for chiiiiiilly?"

"Haha. Yeah, that's a good one." He laughed. "Just come over here."

Suki quizzically approached Jack as he held his cane staff ready. "You see, people are able to bend elements by their chi, and each element's chi has a particular flow throughout your body, and is concentrated at a certain point. But while people have Personal Chi, the outside world, like the ocean, sky, or space, contains Natural Chi. Benders release their chi to the Natural Chi, and in the process, allows them to bend those elements. Benders can strengthen the bond between their Personal Chi and the Natural Chi through experience or meditation. And when the bond between chis is strong enough, they'll ultimately fuse together. Thus, the bender's body will become one with their element. When this Logia level is reached, the chi takes on a different flow depending on the element. For us icebenders or earthbenders, the chi will appear relatively frozen or stiff. Firebenders' chi would become more active, airbenders' more scattered, and Space Chi would appear almost hollow or nonexistent. But while the chi flows take on this drastic change, the bender is more powerful than ever."

"But if I became a Logia… I couldn't hug my sister without freezing her, could I?" Suki asked with big sad eyes.

"Well, with Logia, it's a complex thing. Your body only possesses the illusion of having become your element." Jack Frost used his staff to draw Suki's shape in the snow. "After you become Logia, an invisible shield encases your whole body." He drew another line just outside of Suki's shape, in the same shape. "You still have a normal body, and can eat or touch things, so if you shook hands with somebody, the shield allows harmless outside forces to pass. But when you want it to, or danger comes your way, the shield will kick in." He drew a line coming directly at Suki and passing the shield. "When that danger is detected, that part of your body will transform into ice and the danger will be avoided. But your body is still there. It just becomes invisible and intangible while the ice takes its place. But the shield only protects the outside; the inside is still vulnerable. Something hazardous could enter through your ears, nose, or mouth. If the danger becomes active in say the entrance of those areas, the shield will still detect, but if it gets too far in you can't see it, it won't pick up. And of course, the shield can't protect against Haki, chi-blocks, or the element's natural enemy. So even as a Logia, you still need to be aware."

"So I can become a Logia, and STILL hug Miyuki-chan, right?"

"Yeah, you could. But that's where the hard part comes in…"

"Ohh?"

"When benders are on the very verge of Logia transformation, sometimes it requires the ultimate step. To finally test if that bond is real, and you're so in tune with your element, you have to put yourself in a situation that could mean your _death_."

"Hu!" she gasped.

"To name a few examples… a waterbender might submerge their self and completely drown, an airbender could drop from an airplane without a parachute, or an icebender may lock their self in the coldest darkness until their blood turns to ice…"

_Mikaela Chariton took the most powerful blast from Mewtwo's psychic beam, but in just a blink, her body had become psychic itself._

_Caesar Clown hacked and coughed within the fog of toxic Bang Gas. He had inhaled so much, and it was overtaking his lungs. But a grin appeared on his face, when it became so breathable. "Oh. I'm a Logia. Not what I was trying to do, but, I'll take!"_

_Dozens of boulders were rolling to the unsuspecting village at the mountain's base, and Angie McKenzie was doing all she could to send them away. There came to be too many, and the woman felt the storm of boulders bouncing and crushing her body. Her bones would give way any second, but to her utter amazement, her body shattered like stone. A great stone entity that shaped her form emerged from the earth and crushed the remaining boulders._

_At 13 years old, Mandy McKenzie had acquired numerous syringes of Nightmare Toxin. She injected them all in her body and let the magic happen._

Suki gulped, eyes wide with terror.

"That's why becoming a Logia can mean the ultimate sacrifice. Sure, if it works, your life's the same as normal, but you're just more powerful. But if it doesn't work… if you're not as sure as you thought you were… it's the end."

The sadness was clear as day in Suki's adorable eyes. "Is that what… happened to _you_? Sniff."

"Well… yeah… a long time ago, when…"

"…" Suki listened patiently.

Jack shook, "Let's not worry about it now. Your training should come first."

"What kinda training are we doing?"

"I'm going to teach you about the Ice Element. I know you have a good grasp of it, but it's important you hear it out, too. Ice, in a way, is close to Psychic, as it needs an imaginative mind to work." He took some snow and mended it into all sorts of shapes, a hammer, a DNA, lipstick… "Psychicbenders need to endure loads of training before they can create stuff out of their chi, but any active icebender can make things ages early. True, it's made of ice and won't make any long-lasting contributions, but when there's something we need on the spot, we got the advantage." He made it into earmuffs, which he placed over Suki's ears. "We call this Ice-Maker Style. And the same way psychicbenders can create Imaginary Friends, icebenders can give life to snow entities if their imagination's strong enough. Just look." Jack created a snowman half Suki's height, who bowed.

Suki beamed and created a team of tiny snowpeople as high as her feet, skiing and dancing around the larger snowperson. "Which you already understand! And the stronger our chi is, the more realistic we can make a person or thing. The reason icebenders are rarer than waterbenders is because ours possesses magical properties, just like Psychic. Icebending just sounds like 'controlling ice', like any other element, but even other elements have hidden powers inside them. And icebending has another property, too: the power to freeze time."

"Huuh?"

"You know that when something is completely encased in ice, its very motion or aging stops until the ice is totally melted. It was this power that kept Avatar Aang in a time stasis for a hundred years, which thereby stopped his Negative's aging, but allowed him to roam free. So it would be in regular timebending."

"So **I** have powers like MIYUKI-CHAAAAAN!"

"Heheh ha. To an extent, really. You more-or-less keep Time in balance, by freezing it, the same way you already do with your sister. If something is out of control, a river, a volcano, even time itself, you need to freeze it."

"Huuuuuu!" Suki's eyes and mouth grew wide in remembrance again. "Miyuki-chaaaaan! I gotta go SAAAAVE her, can't wait AROOOOUUUND." She jumped impatiently.

"Suki, calm down, your sister will be fine." Jack smiled assuringly. "I want you to help me with something first. Can you trust me?"

Suki calmed down and stared at him. She really wanted to save her sister… but if Jack Frost says so, she could believe in him. She nodded.

Jack narrowed his eyes and bent down discreetly, gesturing to the blizzarding mountain above. "There's this girl up there that I really like, and I want you to help me talk to her." He spoke in a hushed tone, as if they were in high school and he were whispering to his friend about the pretty girl at the other table. "I've been trying to get up the courage to, but I always get so nervous. So will you help me?"

"Awwwwwww!" Suki pressed her cheeks and sang like a nosy little sister. "Jack—ie-chan's, in LOOOO-ooooove!"

Jack's heart sank in a beat, his smile faltering. "What's wrong, Jackie?"

"Uh-h… nothing."

"Well let's GOOOOO! Don't be shy, I'll tell you JUST what to SAAAAY!"

"That means a lot, Suki." He smiled. "Now let's go. I'll teach you about icebending on the way."

**Spirit World; KND treehouse**

Miyuki followed Norman down to a basement of the treehouse, which grew darker as torches only lit the halls. "So when did you become a Halfa?"

"Three weeks ago, actually." Norman said with a cool, casual smile. "I helped transfer this ghost to the Spirit World last year, and her spirit came back to give me this power. I think she can help you out, too."

"Is that where we're going?"

"Yep. A little tidbit though, Coraline's actually older than she looks. Her ghost body has a manifested child form made of strings and stitches and junk. Some Nightmare King gave it to her for helping catch some rogue Nightmare, I think 22 years ago? Jack's mostly hanging with us as a pastime, and Rukia, not sure where she's from. Probly Japan."

They made it to a large, dark room with a single curtained table lit by a small candle. On one side, a pale 11-year-old girl with a black dress and sleek black hair. Across from her, creatures Miyuki was familiar to: white, round-topped beings with little eyes in red circles, and floating hands. Okay, she wasn't exactly familiar what they were, so she called them the Thing Chorus. Why, you ask?

The dark girl picked up a cup of tea on the table and shook it lightly. "How should I live my life? That, appears to be the _question_, of the _evening_." She sounded half-interested.

_The more you think about life_

_The sooner you might diiiiie._

"But why shouldn't I think about death. When _that's_ the way I'm gonna be spending most of my life."

_It maaay be the way you are fated to live_

_But why shouldn't you liiive in the mooomeeeent?_

"Because I got nothin' interesting going on. Let's get it over with now. Where's the nearest cliff. Deep river. A knife might work."

_But the faster you rush into sooomething_

_The harder it will be for yooou tooo aaaadjuuuust._

The girl sipped her tea. "If I were good at it, I would adjust. If I'm not, why can't I start now?"

_Death comes to taaake when it's ready toooo_

_For deaaath iiiis the lot of uuuus!_

_The lot of everyone that **we hold deeear.**_

_So WHY pass the time thinking of the value of your liiiife?_

"Hey, Numbuh 1712!" Norman greeted as he led Miyuki in. "This is Miyuki. Miyuki, this is Aggie. Our, uh, witchcraft specialist."

"Yes." Aggie stood up, stretched her arms, and rubbed her eyes. "Just got up from a really long nap. And I guess you have, too."

"Actually, Norman's friends brought me here. But I think I'm still… alive."

"I'll let you two get to know each other." Norman walked away. "Rukia wants me for mission reports."

With that, Aggie and Miyuki began a long, unenthusiastic walk down the opposite hall. "So if you aren't really dead, what are you here for."

"I don't know. Me and my friends were flying to an ice planet during a mission. We crashed and I died, but not really. I was a timebender back in living."

"A timebender. I'm kinda feeling that from you. Your spirit has small fractions of the chi. A little grayer than I remember."

"You've met other timebenders?"

"This girl named Olive used to live with me at Blithe Hollow. She was my only friend. After the townspeople executed me for witchcraft, a girl named Muffy Jenkins killed her for being a timebender."

Miyuki's eyes grew wide, "Olive? THAT'S my mom! And that Muffy Jenkins girl, that was Dimentia."

"I know. I heard she came back to life. 'Course, she was already in the Spirit World centuries before I was. I didn't want to go. And I wouldn't let anyone else. Now that I'm here, I don't even remember being alive. You learn to forget these things… when they no longer concern you."

A bright light shone at the end of this hall, and Miyuki gaped at what it was. She thought they were miles underground, but it was a peaceful forest of lush green trees and grass under a golden sky. Aggie walked up to a lone tree in the middle of a barren region, and sat with her back against it. "This is the tree my mom used to read me stories under. It's dead in the Mortal World, so it came here. I take long naps under here. But time never passes."

Miyuki sat beside her, "Is your mom here, too?"

"I haven't seen her since I got here. I've been sensing it. Something is happening to the spirits. Bad people in the Mortal World are interfering with the Spirit World."

"That's…That's awful! How can any mortal mess up the Spirit World?"

"The Spirit World is closely connected with the Dream World. People can shape it to their deepest desires. To make a happy afterlife. Normally people can't do that while they're still alive… but some mortals found a way. And I'm not sure how."

"Does it have to do with… the Apocalypse?"

"I'm feeling a lot of fear… in the Mortal World. In a month, the Spirit World will be destroyed. If the mortal dimensions are gone, the Spirit Worlds can't exist. There will be nothing to give it energy. All of it is going to die."

"Then…Then I can't waste time here. I need to stop the Apocalypse. We all promised Cheren we would help." _And… I told Zanifr I'd…_

Agatha looked up. "You don't look like anyone who would be concerned about anything."

"I…I used to be. But I…I found a new importance in life. It's to live for my friends, and be happy for the spirits. Then when I pass on here, my spirit can help the world flourish. I want to save the Spirit World… so everyone can have someplace happy to go when they die. So the Cycle of Life.. can continue."

Aggie closed her eyes. "I've always been afraid of something happening to this forest. I can never go to sleep with the promise that… it'll still be here when I wake up. I want to sleep here forever… _in peace_…"

Miyuki looked at her when Aggie became silent. Her eyes closed, she lay back against the tree, as if in deep sleep. If Miyuki lived here, she might want to sleep forever, too. It was so peaceful… the afterlife… just the thought of it made her eyelids grow heavy…

Aggie woke up, "Let's go." and began the walk out. "Energybending won't teach itself."

Miyuki startled back to attention, "E-Energybending?" She got up and followed.

"A lot of Spirit KNDs master energybending as their means of combat. Rukia even knows a bit."

"Isn't that… light or darknessbending?"

"They're closely related. But Energy is the essence where _all_ chi comes from. It's the only part of our bending we keep after we convert into spirits. It's what our souls, and everything in the Spirit World, is composed of. When spirits search deep inside their selves and that which makes this world, they can control that energy. It can become the most powerful of elements…"

"And could I use that power… while I'm alive?"

"It's a little more difficult, because your normal chi is concealing the Energy Chi. The only mortal I've heard that was able to bend the direct energy is the Avatar, who is half-spirit to begin with. But mastering energybending should have an effect on your Time Chi, too, make it stronger. And that grayness I feel in your chi… I wanted to take a look at it."

"Well… okay. As long as I can get back to my friends soon."

"Relax. You will. As long as your body isn't eaten by wolves."

"But… Agatha." The two stopped. "Who is it exactly… that's messing up the Spirit World. Do you know who's behind it?"

"…" Aggie turned, still with her gloomy face, "He calls himself King."

**Sand Castle**

The sky was bluer and filled with even more stars above this vast desert. A Kargarok messenger cawed across the air as it flapped to the castle with a conchshell within its talons. It flapped into a window and dropped the shell in the hands of the castle's owner. King Sandy Johnson sat back on his couch and opened the shell's hatch, displaying a holographic image of a shadowed, knight-like being with dashing armor, a cape, and a pointy crown. _"Hello, Sandy."_

"Ahhh if it isn't my _good_ friend," said Sandy with a snobbish smile, "His Royal Highness King—"

_"You would know better than to speak my full name. There is power in a name, you know. Or shall I spill YOUR filthy, disgusting secret?"_

"Sigh, you will never let that go, will you?"

_"Are you absolutely sure what you told me about the Minish Princess is true?"_

"No, I was just making crud up. If you don't wanna see, I can just squish her, one less nuisance."

_"Don't joke around with me. You know that the princess's powers are vital in what we have planned. If you are mistaken, you WILL pay the price."_

"Relax, I'm absotively posilutely certain. Are you coming to take the brat away or what?"

_"Tomorrow night. After the presidents' meeting. My special squad will be over to bring her to me. Do **not** disappoint me… and destroy this Dial."_ Switched off.

Unbeknownst to Sandy, a single tiny Blue Pikmin watched him from the doorway.

**Cleveland neighborhoods; daytime**

The sun was finally rising over Cleveland as Team Rupert lay fast asleep, their fire having gone out and their Pikmin inside the Onions. Rupert was the first to regain consciousness, half-awake at the sound of a distant, nearly deafening screech, and some doors squeaking open. Rupert got to his feet, seeing what was clearly the top of a yellow school bus. Timmy and Hikari slowly recovered too, at the echoing creak of a giant door. _"Bye, Mom, I'm going to school!"_ The slamming of the door pulled them awake completely. Through the giant grass was a blonde, freckle-faced girl in a dark-pink shirt, and the sound of wheels crossing the sidewalk let them know her bookbag was on wheels. _"Whoops, forgot to tie my shoe."_ She stopped midway and bent down.

"! ! ! GUYS! ! NOW'S OUR CHANCE, COME ON!" At Rupert's cry, the three kids dashed to the girl as fast as they could, the Pikmin Onions fluttering after them. Once they were through the grass, they found her backpack lain on its back while she tied her shoes. _"And oooover, and loop-di-loop, and oooover.."_

"HURRY!" Sprinting with all the strength in their legs, they rushed for the small net on the side of the pack, leaped, and grabbed hold of its very thick lining at their size. The Onions latched their selves onto the side of the pack as well. The girl stood, picked up her pack, and casually rolled and lifted it into the bus, the swift turns and movement forcing the tinies to hold on tight. She slammed it haphazardly against the wall beside a seat and sat down, the tinies dropping as the girl began talking to a friend.

"Sigh. That was close." Timmy panted.

"Is Jessie and Sandy on this bus?" Rupert asked. "We can look around for 'em and get their-" But a sudden shake knocked them off their feet. The bus was in motion.

"Mmmmmmaybe that's not a good idea now." Timmy said as they grabbed the floor tight.

"We'll have to look for Jessie in school." Hikari knew.

Rupert seemed to shrink more at this idea. The last thing he wanted at a quarter inch tall was going to school this way.

**Planet Poké**

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…" It's true that flying as a beam of light across the very light-years would induce screaming. Such was the case of Darcy Chariton, and Lucario didn't enjoy it so much either. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH…" Even after they finally landed, she still went on. "-UUH!"

"STOP IT!" yelled Lucario, smacking her. "Honestly, I expected that from _Sunni_, not you…"

Darcy shook back to senses, helping herself to stand. "Wh…Where did you take me?"

"Planet _Poké_." Fluffy white clouds filled the sunny sky, grasslands and mountains lay every direction. And hundreds, thousands of the creatures we all know and love roamed everywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>That's right: dragons. HA, just kidding, can you imagine? So it seems Darcy is on a life-changing journey that's sure to last dozens of game generations. …Nah, we'll dumb it down by, like, a lot. Also Spirit KND, Rukia's from <em>Bleach<em>, Norman from _ParaNorman_, Coraline from, yeah, and everyone knows where Skellington's from. And Elsa. And the song. :P So next time, uhh a Rupert level, maybe a Sheila, then a flashback. So stay doomed.**


	9. That Promise 300 Years Ago

**Well people, this chapter features probably the longest flashback in my entire series. Just because it is. :P So live with it. MGDdoesn'tcount HERE WE GO! !**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Jack Frost's Past: A Kingdom Doomed to the Ages.<em>**

**Planet Poké**

"Oh… my… gosh!…" Darcy gasped with the greatest joy. "I'm on Pokémon Planet! ! Sunni's gonna be SOOO jealous when I tell her I got here first!"

"Ha har har!" Lucario chuckled softly. "I'm sure she will. But that will have to wait awhile. You have a very important task ahead of you."

"Wh…What kind of task?"

"Darcy Chariton…" He threw a sash of Pokéballs at Darcy's feet, "it's time for you to begin your Pokémon Journey!"

An awkward silence followed. Darcy was at a loss for words. This was her destiny. And it came, hit her in the face just like that. If only she had time to comprehend it…

"HAAAAA ha ha haaaa! I'm just kidding!" laughed Lucario. "As long as this story is, we really don't have time for a *** Pokémon Journey! Ahhh… gotta make yourself laugh, ya know."

"…..Thank….. GOD…." Darcy felt a huge sense of relief fly off of her.

"Ha ha, yes… but you do have an important job here. With the Apocalypse dawning near, all species are in danger, including the Pokémon. And I sense the ones who kidnapped your mother are bringing chaos here as well."

"So what about the Pokémon?"

"Ahh, the New Universe just cannot be without Pokémon! These were the very first creatures created by the gods! They were the original benders and have the greatest connections to the elements than any. Such amazing creatures…"

"I thought dragons were the original benders."

"PAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA—don't be ridiculous, Darcy. But if there is to be a New World, that cannot happen without the legacy of the Pokémon to continue. They must be saved, must be allowed a chance to survive."

"Right, so I'll just build an ark, get 2 of each Pokémon; maybe have to establish some mating rules, and judging by the sheer amount of them, that'll take a lot of math to determine the size of the ark, so we may also have to buy a lot of—"

"That duty will not fall onto you now. You do wish to aid your sister in her destiny, right?"

"Well yes, of course I—wait, what destiny?"

"Sunni must go on a journey of self-dependence, in order to better herself for the trials ahead. But you will be able to help her. Your father and I have talked it over, and we believe it is in your best interest to study the Element Arts."

"You mean I got other elements besides psychic? Is that why I'm bad at it?"

"No. But according to your father, you were very proficient in your martial arts classes. Almost each element has a martial art that ordinary humans can master and produce the illusion of bending an element. Chris Uno mastered Fire Kung-Fu as an extra defense measure should his bending be disabled, and your father is skilled in all arts."

"And the reason I'm learning it is… 'cause I'm bad at psychicbending." Darcy deduced doubtfully.

"You will master your element on your own time, but when times call for it, you must focus on what you excel at, not waste time perfecting an art you would need time and patience to master. I'm sorry to say, by the end of this month, we expect Sunni to be far more powerful than you at psychic… but you will have skills she does not have, and your strength will be used to aid each other when required."

"'kay, so, who'm I learning it from?"

"The Pokémon. Throughout the world are many gyms whose leaders favor a certain type of Pokémon. Not only do they train them to become stronger, the trainers learn from them as well. They form bonds with their Pokémon so that they may teach them what they know. While the trainers are not born with chi, the Pokémon teach them other ways to manipulate the elements. With this illusion of element mastery, the trainers feel closer than ever with their Pokémon. That is why we must save them. So the new generation may have those bonds as well."

"Well… then my journey of self-discovery begins now. ..Lead the way."

"Certainly." Lucario dashed across the fields as Darcy followed.

"Oh wait, what about the Pokéballs?"

"Those're just decoratives."

"Oh."

**Gallagher Elementary**

When the bus came to stop beside the schoolyard, the children were eager to head out. Their immediate destination was the playground, where dozens of kids were already roaming freely. "I'll be right there, Saraaaaah!" the blonde girl sang, rolling her backpack faster as she ran. "Lemme just hide my stuff!" She headed behind the jungle gym, lay her backpack down, and rushed away to join her friends.

Their tiny arms close to snapping, Team Rupert panted and stretched to relieve the stiffness after letting go of the bag. "At least we have some time to rest." Rupert gasped. "Why's everyone outside…"

"It's close to summer, so everyone gets extra pre-school recess." Timmy answered. "Principal Rachel's orders."

"Well, that's good!" Rupert beamed. "Maybe we can find Jessie in all this!"

"Yeah! And his MAAAAGIC kiss will CHANGE us back to normal!" Hikari proclaimed with hearts around her face.

"Hehe… none for me, thanks." Rupert sweatdropped. "Let's just find 'im before they go in." (Play "Perplexing Pool" from _Pikmin 2_.)

_Stage 15: Iron Plains_

_Mission: Look for First Grade President Jessie._

Rupert, Timmy, and Hikari called 15 Red Pikmin, 15 Yellows, 13 Blues, 20 Pinks, 10 Whites, and 10 Purples, making 83. Their journey across the concrete plains would first require them to pass the gigantic jungle gym, the sun almost completely blocked by the huge metal poles. It became a maze since footballs, toys, or rocks were lain between poles, and within the bars, the team had to take out small groups of Dwarf Bulborbs. They came to a dead end in the maze, but noticed some green moss growing on one of the poles. "What's this stuff?" Rupert asked.

"Our dad said this jungle gym used to be an actual jungle for some reason." Timmy said. "I guess this was part of it."

"Hmm… well, it helps. Come on, Pikmin!"

The trio climbed the moss to a higher level of bars and their Pikmin stayed with them. The bars were still fairly narrow at their small sizes, so they stayed carefully along the middle and instructed their Pikmin to do the same. There were very small edges along the corners of the vertical poles, connecting other horizontals, so they struggled to squeeze their Pikmin alongside them. Swooping Snitchbugs were buzzing around the bars and swiping some Pikmin, forcing Rupert to send Wing Pikmin and wipe them out.

They noticed a series of other paths below which were enclosed, so they couldn't be accessed from the previous areas. But if they fell in, the Pikmin could grab Bomb Rocks and blow up the stones enclosing the paths, or grab bridge tiles to fix bridges leading to the previous paths, depending on where they landed. But they would open these shortcuts in time, first focusing on navigating this maze of different levels of bars. There were several moss ladders on many routes, with some leading to Pellet Posies, but others seemingly leading the right way. A huge shadow appeared to be engulfing part of the gym, and they looked up to see a boy strapped to the top of the gym by his legs and wrists, tied by rope.

The trio made their way to the top of the gym to see him struggling. "Nnn, stupid Brandon, makin' me do his dares. ISN'T ANYONE GONNA UNTIE ME? ! Ugh, I bet they left me here on purpose…"

Rupert nodded with his friends and had their Pikmin try to untie the ropes. They were tied surprisingly well, and even the Purple Pikmin couldn't help him. "Man, how else are we gonna help him?" Rupert asked.

Timmy turned a mini dial on his goggles to zoom in and view the ground below. "Hey, there's some little burning ember rocks on the ground. Dunno what they're for, but I bet they can burn off the ropes. …And over there is a pile of sticks. We could use those and make paths for the Pikmin."

"Alright, Timmy get the Red Pikmin on those embers." Rupert instructed. "Hikari, have Wing Pikmin get the sticks."

"Yokey-dokey, Artichokey!" Hikari beamed, guiding the Wings down as she glided using her sleeves. Timmy used his cape and glided to the embers, the Red Pikmin dropping after. The Wing Pikmin collected sticks and laid both sides on a low level and high level, starting from the Red Pikmin. Once they finished, the Reds could carry the burning embers to the kid and toss them on the ropes, eventually burning them off.

"WHOA!" He was taken by surprise, gripping the bars. "The heck just happened. …Oh well, Brandon's getting punched in the face!" He climbed off quickly and ran to find his, er, acquaintance.

Right away, Rupert noticed a squished, black object on the bar under where the kid's butt was planted. Rupert approached and discovered it was an Onion, which rose to life and floated to the ground on the other side of the gym. He, Timmy, and Hikari made their way to that area to find a seed sprout out. They plucked that seed and discovered the new Pikmin.

**You discovered _Rock Pikmin_! They may seem like ordinary stones, but these little guys are as durable as boulders! They can't latch on and repeatedly bash enemies, but pack quite a punch if you throw them at enemies! And no one likes rocks being thrown at your glass, but if that glass happened to be blocking your way, it's something I'd recommend. ;)**

"Awwwww! Look at his wittle eeeeyes!" Hikari cooed.

"This one's kinda different." Timmy observed.

Rupert saw the standing glass shard behind the Onion, blocking their path. He grabbed the Rock Pikmin and tossed it several times against the glass, eventually breaking it. "Hmm… let's work on making more first."

For the next several minutes, they worked on opening the shortcuts leading back to the Onions, and sending 5 Wing Pikmin back in. They brought their Rock Pikmin and had it collect some pellets around the area, and later harvested 10 Rock Pikmin, making 88 total. Within the maze, there was a blue coin (Tricky Buggah) encased inside a crystal, which they could break with the Rock Pikmin. They had the Pikmin carry it back before finally proceeding to the field where the dozens of titanic kids roamed.

Compared to the forest or the beach, the playground seemed like a lot more open area, few walls protecting certain paths. "So where's President Jessie, anyway?" Rupert asked.

"I dunno. But they let us in gym during recess, too. He could be in there." Timmy mentioned.

"Let's look for treasures first."

Roaming the playground were Decorated Cannon Beetles, big red beetles with round, open mouths. They spat round boulders at the trio which homed in on them, but they could easily beat them by separating from the Pikmin and tricking the boulders into rolling back against the beetles. It took 7 Pikmin to carry each one, so they let the Yellows have one, Blues, and Rocks. There were so many areas of the playground to explore, but they first noticed a group of four kids at the basketball court, jumping over and over to try and knock their stuck ball out of the basket.

The ball looked too smooth and slippery, and too big for the Wing Pikmin to grab, so they would look for a solution. They did notice a boy boredly sitting on the low end of a seesaw a few feet away from the court (miles at Pikmin size). "Siiiigh… when's Chelsea getting back so we can just ride this thing?" he said annoyedly.

The trio further explored the playground to solve these endless dilemmas. They noticed an enormous, overweight brown-skinned child in a red T-shirt and blue shorts, on his back at the base of a makeshift mountain that led onto the playground. The boy grew as tall as a mountain himself as the team made it up to him.

"Siiiigh… I wish I could stand up and move, but Ah'm just so darn fat. Oh bother…" With that, Cleveland Jr. proceeded to eat a Hershey bar.

Team Rupert exchanged glances and sent their Purple Pikmin on the boy. It took 120 Pikmin to carry him, so their 10 Purples, 10 Whites, and 10 Reds made enough to do so. "Hehe hehe! You silly ants, I'm not a tasty snack!"

The Pikmin carried the overweight boy to the seesaw, stopping beside the end that was up. The Pikmin squatted up and down, charging momentum, before finally tossing Jr. straight onto the other end. The force created by his weight caused the other boy to fly straight to the basketball court. "WHOOOOoooaa!" He went right in the net and forced the ball out, his face smashing on the ground.

The players ran over to see if he was all right, the boy's nose bloody and a hole left in the ground. "Whoa, dude! You totally broke the ground!"

"Let's take you to the nurse.." The boys kindly led him away, allowing Team Rupert to safely approach the newly opened hole.

"Wow… that looks pretty deep." Rupert noticed.

"Yeah, and it looks like it goes a long way." Timmy said, scanning with his goggles. "But there could be some stuff down there."

"Uhhh… let's focus on the main stage first. Maybe we'll come back for 'em."

They saw that Junior dropped his Hershey Bar (True Purity) and had their Pikmin return it to the Onions. Once back there, they plucked the new Pikmin they got from the Cannon Beetles, then decided to do some reorganizing: they took 20 Reds, 20 Pinks, 20 Blues, 10 Yellows, 10 Purples, 10 Whites, and 10 Rocks. They returned to the playground, recalling their reason for coming here as they searched for Jessie. It didn't appear the president was anywhere, so their next best option was the gym.

"Only one problem, the teachers keep the gym doors locked, you gotta head around the hallways." Timmy mentioned.

"WHAT? ! That'll take FOREVER!" Rupert shouted.

"WELL, there IS the hall monitor, who gets access to all the keys in the school. We could find him and take the gym key." Hikari noted.

"I think this week's is Pig-Pen. Oh, there he is now!" Timmy pointed at a boy sitting atop a stone turtle, and it appeared a thin cloud of smoke surrounded his horribly dirty form. "They picked him 'cause no one wants to be caught by him. Guess why? Hehehehehe!"

"Euh… we better use our White Pikmin for this." knew Rupert. But now was a matter of getting onto the turtle where he sat. He noticed the two girls spinning hoolihoops around their waists, and lined with them were two trampolines, a larger and smaller one, at the end of a playground slide. "I have an idea, but it's gonna be pretty tricky. Follow me." Rupert led them to the Makeshift Mountain and climbed enough stable slopes in order to eventually climb to the playground. Crawling about the mountain were plenty of Dweevils, colorful four-legged spiders that each possessed an element power, depending on the color. The Pikmin were eager to attack them, even though they didn't attack first, so the kids frantically tried to call them back. In the confusion, five Blue Pikmin were shocked to death by an Anode Dweevil, so finally annoyed, they decided to chuck their Purples onto the spiders and take them out faster.

They allowed their Blues, Purples, and Rocks to haul them back, each getting two Dweevils, since they were pretty light. They finally made it onto the playground and carefully navigated the giant holes-whose-reason-for-existence-we-would-never-know. They had to cross a bridge in order to reach the slide, but two Puffy Blowhogs were floating around it. They threatened to blow the kids and Pikmin into the holes and onto the concrete several hundred feet below, so Hikari gracefully leaped across the holes with the Wing Pikmin and sent them on the Blowhogs, 10 for each. The friends hurried along with their Pikmin keeping between the holes, except a few Rocks and Yellows who slipped and dropped down. With the Wings distracting the Blowhogs, the kids made it to the slide, where some boys rolled a rubber ball down, let it bounce on the small trampoline, to the big one, and to the hoolihoop girls as they flung it away. "I think you guys know what we gotta do." Rupert said.

"I'm gonna be sick." groaned Timmy.

So they sent their other Pikmin below the playground, took only the Whites and Purples, and whooshed down the slide. Bounced off the mini trampoline, used their Purples to add force to the larger so they could bounce off it, and flew to the hoolihoop girls before grabbing tighter than they ever grabbed onto one's hoop. It was like a ride at an amusement park, the world only a blur around them, and their flesh seconds from flying off. "I-I-I think I see it. . .. Let go!"

They couldn't release any faster on Rupert's cue, flying directly for the stone turtle's neck. Seconds after, the girls dropped their hoops to take a break. "Let's go somewhere else, Leslie." One of them said. "Those boys keep throwing stuff at us."

"Yeah, let's… ewwww!" When Leslie picked up her hoop, her hand touched a spot with small goop. "There's some kinda stuff on it!"

Timmy grinned sheepishly. He couldn't hold his dinner in. So with that, they trekked up to the towering body of stench known as Pig-Pen, already having to clamp hands over their noses. He sat on the turtle like a horsy, so his legs spread to either side, forcing them to walk along the edge of the turtle and get behind him. A key that read 'Gym' stuck out of his back pocket, so they marched up to get it. Their White Pikmin had to first cut the weak stitching of his pocket, digging at it like it was ground, until the key fell out. All 10 Pikmin hoisted the key and began their journey to the gym doors. The trio dropped down the turtle as Rupert sent Timmy to get back the fallen playground Pikmin, and Hikari to get the Onion Pikmin. It also seemed the Wings finished brawling the Blowhogs and were collecting their fill.

Rupert followed the White Pikmin to the gym door. Unfortunately, there was no way onto the huge step before the door, and even if they could, the keyhole was a thousand stories above, and the Wing Pikmin couldn't touch the gassy key. However, near the corner of the step appeared to be cracked, making Rupert wish they had one of those Bomb Rocks. He called the Pikmin to drop the key before hurrying to reunite with his friends. After explaining the dilemma, they searched the park for possible Bomb Rocks, discovering a pair of giant shorts lain into a puddle. They deduced some bully stole a kid's shorts and decided to get them wet. But conveniently, Bomb Rocks stuck out of the back pocket, so they sent their Blues down to get 'em out of the liquid.

With that, they headed for the step and tossed three bombs beside the cracked part, successfully blowing it up and creating a hill of rubble to lead 'em onto the step. Now was the matter of getting the key to the door, but it seemed that problem would be answered when the chubby gym coach marched up and noticed the key "discarded" on the step. "Damn it. Sigh, Pig-Pen needs some new pants if he's gonna keep droppin' stuff. Oh well, might as well open it." Not at all seeing the tinies, she grabbed the key and unlocked the door, heading inside and leaving the door open.

"Lucky!" said Rupert, and the friends eagerly led their Pikmin in the gym. (End song.)

The sound was far more ringing in their ears, dozens of children scampering about the flat, polished gym floor, the stomping of their sneakers, bouncing of basketballs, the eventual earsplitting whistle, all mixed into a cluster of booming sounds that made audible conversation impossible. "DO YOU GUYS SEE JESSIE ANYWHEEEEERE?" screamed Rupert.

"I DON'T KNOW. THERE'S TOO MANY PEOPLE. THE PRESIDENTS' OFFICES AREN'T FAR FROM HERE, LET'S GO THERE AND WAIT FOR HIM." Timmy replied.

"WHAT IF WE GET SQUIIIIISHED?" screamed Hikari.

"JUST WALK WHERE THERE AREN'T MANY PEOPLE. BESIDES, _SOMEONE_ HAS TO NOTICE A HUNDRED FLOWER THINGS RUNNING AROUND THE FLOOR."

But as it happened, in all this activity occurring about the gym floor, not one noticed an army of tiny, colorful ants skittering across their floor. The kids ducked with great horror when a basketball bounced over them and off the wall, and two kids in mountain-size sneakers skipped over them in their mission to grab it. Next, three kids were on their bellies on square-shaped skateboards, rolling around the gym floor as the team ducked with pure fright, safely right under the boards as they flew by, but 5 Reds, 4 Yellows, and 3 Purples were squished. "Oh crap—JUST RUUUUUN!" They booked it with all the remaining strength in their legs. Every kind of hazard threatened to smoosh them, basketballs, rogue hoolihoops, kids just running around like idiots, there was no safe haven in this gym.

But when they felt their legs giving out, Timmy saw someone that sparked him with relief. "HEY! ! LOOK! IT'S JOEY!" Indeed, the black-haired Beatles child was innocently building blocks outside a corner doorway. So with even more strength to run, they rushed to the 5-year-old. _"Heeeeeey! Joeeeeeey!"_ Arceus knows if their voices were heard in all of that chaos..

But all of that chaos suddenly silenced when the hallway doors burst open, a gang of fourth-graders stomping in with furious expressions. "ALL RIGHT you squirts, what'd you do with our princess? !"

"Huh? Princess?" questioned Rupert.

"WHADDYOU mean? ?" a first-grade boy yelled.

"Princess Shelly ain't in 'er office and no one's seen 'er! And we KNOW you shrimps are mad at her for beatin' your boss!"

"Hey, OUR boss is missing, too! !" another boy shouted. "We think you BIG KIDS mighta taken 'im!"

"Oh yeah? !" the fourth-grade leader stomped up and got in his face. "PROVE it!"

"YOU PROVE IT!"

"Grrrrrrrr!"

"Both of them are missing?" Joey asked himself as Rupert's team was struggling to climb to his very top block. "What coulda happened?"

The tinies finally made it and began jumping, _"Joey! Joey! We know what happened! Look at uuuuuus!"_

"You know what **I** ain't liking your TONE, Shortstuff!" yelled the older boy as his friends got beside him. "YOU kids are gettin' your afternoon wedgies EARLY!"

"BRING IT ON, Stinkbreath!" yelled the younger as those of his age got beside him. "We're throwin' YOU in the basket!"

"Uh-oh. This ain't gonna end well." Joey said worriedly. "Someone better do something."

_"YOU CAN DO SOMETHING JOEY IF YOU JUST LOOK DOOOOOOWN!"_

"You guys, stoooop!" a 2nd-grade girl rushed in. "Molly said she saw Shelly at the beach, she was kidnapped by BIGGER kids!"

"You mean the… MIDDLE-schoolers? !" the fourth-graders gasped.

"They probably took Jessie, too! !" a first-grader panicked.

"But what the heck do THEY want? !"

"Well, whatever it is, WE'RE taking them BACK! !" a scrawny 4th-grader fist-palmed.

"Go up against big kids?" the 2nd-grader asked.

"Well THEY started it! Everyone get your bikes ready, WE ride to Hendry Middle School AT DAAAAAWWWWN!"

"Uhhh it is dawn."

"AT LUUUUUNNNNCH!" And there was a sudden scrambling to get out of the gym.

"Uh-oh. Better find the kindergarteners." So grabbing his blocks haphazardly, Joey rushed out.

"WAAAAH-!" And the tinies ended up hitting the floor. "HEY! Whadda 'bout US, Joey? GET BACK HERE OR I'M TELLING AUNT KUKI! !" screamed Hikari.

"You know, Cousin Artie has a grow ray." Timmy mentioned. "Maybe we can find one o' his friends."

"Maybe." Rupert said doubtfully. "Any idea where they are?"

_Stage Progress: Red Pikmin: 21. Yellow Pikmin: 39. Blue Pikmin: 41. Pink Pikmin: 51. White Pikmin: 26. Purple Pikmin: 27. Rock Pikmin: 28. Total: 180._

**Mexico; near Miracle City**

The morning was brisk and calm over Miracle Road, a light wind blowing sand across the desert and the sky a dim pink. With all this sand blowing everywhere, Sector V couldn't keep their eyes totally open, their C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. parked on the side of the road. "This is where we last recorded the Brotherhood heading to." Aurora said.

"Why can't we fly any closer again?" asked Mason.

"Because we don't want those Brotherhooders to know we're coming." Haylee replied. "Granted, we could totally smoke them if they did, just to be safe."

"Not really. Shouldn't one of us stay behind to watch Sheila?" Harry asked, glancing at the bus where their raccoon friend was still conked out. "At least try ta get 'er up, 'cause Lord knows without her crazy power, we might as well be…"

"…Hu?" But it was then that Sheila peeped awake, immediately getting to her feet and bursting out the door. "YOU AREN'T STARTING THE ADVENTURE WITHOUT ME, ARE YOU? !"

"She's awaaaaaake!" Haruka cheered.

"'ey now, can't I take a snooze for 2 minutes without me mates ditchin' me on the deck?" Sheila smirked, facing the road with excitement. "Ay, me legs feel all stiff and sleepy! You blokes don't mind if I go out fer a quick run, do ya?"

"Hn hn, not at all." Aurora chuckled.

"Strewth! Don't fall behind, you lot!" (Play "Mariachi Madness" from _Rayman Legends_!)

_Stage 16: Miracle City_

_Mission: Locate the Brotherhood of Evil's hideout._

_Act 1: Miracle Road_

Sheila rushed across the windy desert as many lines of Lums slid past her path, having to jump or sidestep to grab them all before they passed. The tiny grains of sand blowing in the breeze obstructed her vision, but she would keep running forward 'til she got where she wanted. And though probly no one was seeing him, Murfy was there to help collect Lums or press those Eye Switches. And once a few miles across the desert, Skelopedes began appearing in attempt to snack Sheila; large centipedes with pink, skeletal bodies. She managed to jump them when they came, but now skeletons in sombreros were riding them as well, forcing Sheila to kick them away in mid-leap.

A team of five Skelopedes launched out to snack her, but Sheila passed a convenient Shrink Fairy and shrunk down, narrowly dodging the bugs. She came to a cliff and ran down a clothesline into a village below, jumping further clotheslines and swinging off clothes. _"__Baje de mi ropa!"_ An angry villager pushed open his wood window and flung Sheila across the street, where she landed on a passing horse carriage and jumped to hit a Grow Fairy, zapping to normal. She ran down a narrow alleyway and hopped atop some fruit stands, following the Lums. _"__Si usted toca_ _mis_ _cortinas__, __te voy a matar__!"_ Angry villagers pushed open windows for Sheila to then jump across, followed by fountains of _"Horchataaaa!"_ streaming from machines.

She grabbed and slid down a clothesline to a cactus field, hopping across safe platforms as well as giant sandworms. She swung a Purple Lum real quick before jumping a sandworm into a cliffside cave, then came out on the other side where she jumped more sandworms. Then with great precision, she flipped up a stairway of Airplane Doomtoons to a Hoodlum blimp, kicking off a Hoodmonger and down a deep, vast cliffside in which she softened the descent with her tail propeller, letting the wind breeze her face. Once at the bottom, she punched a Heckler away before continuing running. _"Olé!"_

The rest of the road was fairly normal until she made it to the gates of the town. She skidded to a halt to catch her breath, and grin at the camera.

"Adequate job, Sheila." Haruka remarked after the others caught up. "You enjoy your nap?"

"I' was orright. But me legs still need a bit o' waking up."

"Let us handle a bit, Sheila." Dillon told her. "I wouldn't mind a few scores with the Brotherhooders myself." (Play "Fiesta de los Muertos" from _Rayman Legends_.)

_Act 2: __Ciudad_ _de los Trastornos_

Dillon marched casually across the first city street, where it appeared strange, red-eyed skeletons in black clothes and sombreros were patrolling. A gang of them charged up and tried scratching Dillon with their long, boney claws, getting his shirt scratched as he dodged and stretched Mario to punch them. About 10 skeletons ganged on him, but after tearing them to pieces, the severed bones were determined and bouncing back to him. "Like father, like son, still hopeless." Midna said, getting in Dillon's shadow. "Do the shockwave." Dillon stretched a shadowy circle to catch all the skeletons inside, so Mario could zip around and tear 'em to even lesser shreds.

The further main road was blocked by a huge pile of flaming debris, leaving Dillon to only take a rightward alley. _"Help me."_ A tiny squeak caught his ears, and he searched around for its source. Behind one of the food stands was an Electoon cage; not that he knew what these were, but they were helpless and trapped, so Dillon broke the cage open. With that, he continued down the alleyway and turned a left corner, where the alley was just a bottomless chasm with wooden pegs around the walls. Dillon stretched his shadow's arms to grab and swing the distant pegs, eventually reaching a safe land. He jumped up a pile of stacked garbage cans and got onto the rooftops where some Sky Guys began shooting slingshots at him. Dillon shot them down with his G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. and found his way to a huge chasm, where the ground was destroyed, exposing many rivers of what seemed like acid.

A few platforms were spread over the chasm which Dillon could fly to using Shadow Glide, though with a few Sky Guys threatening to shoot 'im down, he had to take care of them with the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. first. He soon glided to a very unstable ledge before the backdoor of a windowless building. Dillon used Shadow Veil to slide under the door and find himself in a bakery, the pungent smell of colorful cakes hitting his nose; though from what he could observe, the ingredients being forced in the machines didn't make him want one. This small, steaming room was sealed, but a metal slide near the ceiling was pouring ingredients into a cauldron, with conveniently-horizontal cookies coming down to let him hop up. However, he was far too big to do so, but it seemed a jar on a shelf was containing a Shrink Fairy. Dillon sent Mario to open the cage, the fairy sprinkling magic dust on him to zip him down to size.

Dillon climbed a sack of flour onto a table beside the cauldron, carefully walking around its edge to reach the waterfall of dough. He jumped his way up the cookie platforms, then did the same once up at the slide, into the dark tunnel where it originated. He made it into a kitchen chamber where he hopped off the cookies above a row of cabinets. The cabinet roofs were pretty clear, but Dillon unfortunately walked onto a weak patch and plummeted into it. At the same time, the cabinet opened as a chef with a huge black mustache began searching it intently, with Dillon having to hide behind a series of giant food and condiments as he made his way across.

He walked up a slanted stick of celery onto a series of cans, having to glide to each one with Shadow Glides, but using Veil whenever the chef glanced over. He finally took land on a particular gold can, which the chef took out of the cabinet with a grabber and carried it off. He passed a movable shelf of cupcakes which Dillon quickly floated onto. Trapped within a maze of house-size cupcakes, Dillon decided to make his way to the top for a better view. After maneuvering around the maze, he found a ladder on one of the corner poles to fulfill this task. _"Help me."_ But hearing the squeaky cry again, Dillon climbed down first, seeing Electoons trapped in a wooden cage. A spray can containing Super Spice stood beside them, close enough for Dill to Wall Jump between it and a cage bar. Once on top of the can, he bounced on it several times before it sprayed, severely scorching the wood bar until the cage fell open.

The (large) creatures walked free while Dillon returned to the ladder and climbed to the shelf's 3rd floor. It unfortunately wouldn't go any higher, so he explored the cupcake maze and found a ladder leading onto one of the delicacies; made of dripped icing that was hardened. He made it onto and began trudging the thick, colorful icings, and knew more than ever he would need a bath after this. Also, there appeared to be Caterpie digging around these cakes, so Dillon had to trudge through fast to avoid being snacked. Eventually, he found a rope of hardened dough hanging from the next shelf, so Dillon jumped to and grabbed it to climb up.

The fourth, top shelf had a melted cupcake which he could walk onto like a slope, letting him glide to the center one whose icing spiraled into a point like a Christmas Tree. After walking around and up this spiral (solid icing), he made it to the cherry on top, at level with an oscillating fan hanging from the ceiling that was blowing its scent into an air duct. Using Shadow Glide, Dillon blew into the vent as well, all the way outside where a Grow Fairy zapped him back to normal. "Well, that was an utter waste." he said. "Any idea where I should go now?"

Midna came out. "Well, think: what place in any city could possibly be big enough to hold a hundred supervillains?"

"The… prison?"

"Or the library. Whichever fits."

And across this surprisingly-lush green courtyard stood the Miracle City Mint. Though when Dillon walked in, mutant vegetables and fruit monsters arose from the grass, hungry for some shadowbender. With Midna's help, he stretched a Shadow Shockwave and had Mario fly around and snack them all, but his shadow soon stopped and hacked the horrible foods out of his mouth. Seems like Gramma Stuffum was using this town's ingredients. He tried to Shadow Possess several of the fruits and merely strangle them, but his now-sickened shadow wasn't up to the task. He whipped put his G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. and tried to blow through them, hurrying through the yard and to the prison.

He thought he would have to Shadow Veil under the backdoor, but he was merely able to take the handle, and pull it open. This first hall had many open or half-closed cells, where an assortment of vicious, hairy thugs were chatting about or playing cards, discussing what they'd be robbing today, the most efficient secret exits, and which guards they just pranked or harassed today. This was truly the greatest prison Dillon ever did see. When Dillon turned a left corridor, a large, bear-like criminal called El Oso charged down the hall shouting in anger, Dillon quickly Veiling to avoid his wrath. He carefully progressed forward, Veiling again when El Oso made a loop and charged for him the same way. But by then, Mario was tired and still sickened by the poison fruit, so when El Oso came for him again, Chris Uno leaped from over Dillon and smashed the villain's head with a flaming foot.

"Thought you might need some help goin' in here." he said. "Mario not get enough sleep?"

"Ate some bad veggies. Anyway, the Brotherhood's gotta be close by."

"I dunno. This place feels a little too open."

The double-doors ahead were amazingly locked, so Chris ignited a blowtorch on his finger and burned through the lock. A storm of furious screams hit their ears as they opened the cafeteria, where hundreds of criminals ran like wild animals. Chris jumped in front of Dillon and started punching flames every which way, and when the criminals started charging at them, Chris erupted a great flaming wall which he pushed, stretched out, and scorched any criminal in its wake. "I exhausted nearly all my juice tryin' to beat up some pots-and-pans knight. You don't think I can beat you all in a QUARTER of that time?"

"Well, he certainly has it covered." Midna said while she and Dillon only watched Chris storm around and burn every villain with soot.

"At least he don't need to rely on anyone for his bending." Dillon replied, glancing at Mario holding his stomach.

Within about 5 minutes, Chris was done wasting every rampaging low-life in the room, leaving one bearded inmate whose neck he grabbed. "'ey, Mane! You no fight fair! No one in Miracle City ever gets any bending, Mane!"

"Then it won't be hard finding those that stand out. Seen about a hundred supervillains who, uh, look like they're from somewhere else?"

"I dunno, Mane! I was jus' gonna go to the arcade with the money I stole las' night. The only hundred villains I know, well, make regular visits here."

"Any non-Mexicans?"

"Tha's racist, Mane."

"Never mind." So he punched the man and knocked him out.

"If you were gonna do the Batman thing, _I_ shoulda done that." Dillon said with disbelief.

"You weren't the one that whooped all their butts. Now let's go." All other doors were locked, so the two looked around until Chris pulled a strange lever beside a door.

"WHOA! !" A chandelier came down and almost crushed Dillon. "Watch it, buddy! !"

"Hey, you can get up now, right?" Chris noted.

"I coulda flew up."

"Really?"

But the look of Dillon's shadow said otherwise. "…Fine." So he got on the platform as Chris pushed the lever and let it rise him to the ceiling (then Chris just flew to the second-floor walkway using rocket boots). An Electoon cage also hung from the ceiling, which Chris took the liberty of shooting down with a fireball. Dillon swung the ceiling lights to get to the walkway before he and Chris left out a door to an outside balcony. Two teams of prisoners appeared to be playing hockey using cops tied by their arms and legs, sliding them around the floor.

"'ey, you kids wanna be our goalies? We still need two people." An inmate said.

"Umm… no thanks. You know any big villain hideouts around here?" Chris asked.

"Oh those're everywhere. The volcano, the orphanage, the elementary school, that old lady's garden…"

"One that belongs to the Brotherhood of Evil?" Dill asked.

"El Fraternidad? I no heard o' those, Mane, you ask someplace else."

"Try the volcano." Dill said, so with that, the duo hopped down the roofs and to the front yard, where they left through the open front gates. They saw the others waiting at a city street and hurried to reunite.

"So'd you find anything?" Haruka asked.

"No, but they picked a good town, though. It's like bad guys run the place." Dillon replied.

"We asked around, 'said so many bad guys run the place is 'cause of some old legend called 'El Tigre'." Harry explained. "'Say he's a legendary antihero who could never decide on the right path, but even though he stopped a bunch o' villains, he hung with them a lot, too. They have a statue of the one from 1800s, and one that was made in 2016, but they don't know why. But even though the city was already a mess, building that second one inspired criminals even more."

"This city IS a real dump." Dillon said. "Can't do any dumb shadowbending since Mario ate that fruit. I don't see why anyone'd-"

"Oh, BLIMEY!" exclaimed Sheila Frantic as she walked over, eating a bunch of churros. "This city is a BEAUT! You've got to TRY these things, mates, it's like a fiesta on my tongue!" She swallowed many in one bite.

"Sheila, you just got up, I wouldn't recommend it as a morning snack." Haru said.

"'ey, I need food in my belly, and I ain't get to eat anything after Stuffum's glop. Ay, and I feel MUY energized, mate! I feel like me ears hear a butterfly's… oh?" (End song.) Her ear indeed started twitching. A sound was sounding somewhere, somewhere not entirely visible. "…'ey, that sewer's talking." She pointed at a lid on the street.

Midna came out of Dill's shadow and peeped her eye in its hole. "…Hmm." Using her ponytail hand, she yanked it off. "I hear something, too. I'm going to see what it is." She floated down.

"Hey, I'm coming too." Dillon stated, getting into Shadow Veil as he followed.

The echoes steadily grew louder in Midna's ears, seeing a large gap broken into the sewer tunnel's wall. She found her way to a small cave after entering, and hid behind the wall as it curved left. "…and that is wah, Mah Dear, Ah would be delighted if you should join our _noble_ cause." spoke the familiar Western accent.

"_Well_, Bean, if such a cataclysm _is_ at hand, I will GLADLY join." The owner of this wicked, echoey voice was a skeleton woman with glowing red lights in her dark sockets, a red sombrero with dangling skulls, and a black dress of sparkling fabric and red edges. The gray bird known as Ying-Ying sat on a rock, and tiny Hannibal Bean beside her. "Considering the reputation of your organization, I know all of the scum of this city will not hesitate."

"Ah am counting on it." Bean bowed. "But it does mah heart well to know a lady of your stature will be joining us, Sartana de los Muertos. So Ah'm certain you will provide us much service in… what I have _planned_…"

"About the Apocalypse?"

"Y'_see_, Ah have a theory as to how to stop such an event. It requires the use of a certain Firstborn, a Firstborn that has long been set free by its Guardian."

"Yeeees, the Firstborn." Sartana spoke as though hearing of these creatures. "They were all the rage 20 years ago, if I remember. I believe the military troops who invaded this city back then were involved with them."

"In many ways." Bean rubbed some dust between his, er, "fingers." "But many attempts at locating it will be horribly wasteful, but we have other plans. First, Ah require the use of mah Yin-Yang Yo-Yos. Ah believe mah twin great-grandchildren took them into hiding after Arceus's defeat. We'd best be searchin' information outta them 'soon as possible."

"And how did you plan to do _that_?"

"Ah believe the answer is already in our doorway."

Midna gasped, sinking into the darkness of the cave. _"Grrrrr, grrrrr…"_ A snarling beast was peering at her from behind. "GRAH-RAH-RAH-RAH!" The Shadow Princess was tackled from behind by Zant himself, holding Midna by the hair in his teeth as he scampered in on all fours.

"You will have to excuse dear Zant." smirked Bean. "He's not been right in the head since his stay at Brookfield Asylum. But he's an ever-loyal puppy, jus' _look_ at 'im, sniffin' out them intruders." He spoke like an owner congratulating his puppy in baby-talk, Midna glaring at him with anger. "My, how con_venient_ that a Firstborn falls right into our palms. No reason she shoulda come alone, right? Where're them others.."

Dillon was already slithering back to his teammates, reemerging outside. "Where's Midna?" Aurora whispered.

"She's been spotted. We better find someplace to hide, I think they're on to us."

"**I** hope is chocolatay." The kids looked up, hearts nearly stopping when a gigantic, green monster in a black sombrero was grinning at them with enormous teeth. "Hi." He squished them flat under his spiked ball arm.

**Excess Express**

A fiery orange began to fall over the horizon. Cheren looked at the time on his 4DS, reading 6:30. Looks like they would be arriving soon. Going to assassinate someone just felt so weird. And why did she want him, again? Because he was at equal level with her power? Cheren could only wonder just who or what this Head President was. Oh… but he already knew.

Mom was poking was remained of her Gorgeous Steak as Doflamingo approached her. "Your food can't get anymore dead, Mom. You seem lost in thought… fufufu."

"I find the quality of this meat sufficiently unsatisfying."

"Is what your last boyfriend said. Fufufu! You ought to save your stomach for softer things, anyway, lest that precious cast of yours give way. Please. Have some Healthy Juice." Doflamingo placed a bowl of green juice with little spaghetti inside it on Mom's table.

"Hmph. Worry about your own." She said gruffly.

"I would do nothing more! But it's only safe to tell you… you want to be heading to your room soon. We're about to… shift." And on that note, he walked toward the front of the train.

Mom casually returned to the back of the train as well. In his room, as Cheren was mindlessly twirling an arrow, Mom's sons walked in. "We had better strap in, Cheren. The train is about to shift."

"Shift?" Cheren got up and looked out the window, seeing that the train was speeding across the surface of the orange ocean, via some floatable tracks. "…WAAAAH!" And all of a sudden, the angle of his room slanted, flying him over and onto his bed while the sons pressed against the wall. The Excess Express was driving directly up a diagonal track, and when Cheren recovered and looked out the window, the sea was drawing farther and farther down below. "Whoa…" They were just shifting higher and higher, and would soon be out of the stratosphere in minutes, by the look of it. No doubt, this would be the most exclusive party he was ever going to.

**Gallagher Elementary**

After the park was totally clear of kids, Rupert, Timmy, and Hikari sat boredly on the edge of the gym door's step, their Pikmin behind them. "Sigh… this is hopeless." Rupert said. "With everyone rushing to go to a war, they'll never notice us."

"I know those teenagers took Shelly away, but where _did_ Jessie go?" asked Timmy.

"I wonder if he's too upset to come?" replied Hikari with teary eyes.

"Well, at any rate… maybe we should help these kids out. You know, before they get in trouble. If only we could get into that middle school and, look around. And if he isn't in there, we gotta let them know." Rupert suggested.

"But Rupert, they're already getting ready to go." Timmy said. "Even if we hitched a ride or something, they'll be getting wedgies from all those big kids before we can search the first hallway. Let's just worry about getting back to normal.."

"Yeah… you're right."

_"Ruuuuuuuppyyyyyy?"_ Needless to say, this echo hit both their ears.

"Wha' was that?"

_"Ruuuuuuppyyyyyyy?"_

Rupert's jaw nearly dropped, seeing the two cat-earred girls crawling into the park, sniffing like the animals they partly were. "HEY! ! It's Lil and Berry! They're looking for me! HEEEEEEY BERRYYYYY!" He bolted off his seat and across the vast park grounds, his friends following as they waved their arms faster than they ever would. "LILAAAAC! OVER HERE, IT'S US! 'EEEEEEEY!"

Not surprisingly, their cat ears twitched, and they looked in the tinies' directions. "LOOK, Berry! It's moving flowers!" Taking particular notice of the Pikmin army, the girls scampered on all fours.

"Ha ha ha!" Rupert was exceedingly joyous, having finally been noticed after all this legwork. It would be great to finally have assistance from normal-sized people. The werekittens slowed down as Berry crept up and whiffed the tiny trio, while Lilac crawled around observing the Pikmin.

Rupert's grin was positively beaming when Berry's eyes fell on him. He braced himself for a scream of surprise, since that was expected, in the form of a 'Reooooowww'. But that look in Berry's eyes wasn't one of curiosity and shock… it was one of desire. When they turned to Lilac, a happy smile was on her face, her eyes sparkling with love. And turning back to Berry, her eyes were narrowed, licking her tongue around her sharp, dripping teeth. The same look she had when viewing tasty meat. "Uuuumm… Berry?"

"REOW!" Her giant hands flew directly at them.

"WAAAAH!" The trio dodged aside and made a run for it, the Pikmin following suit, but Lilac chomped around and swallowed 5 Reds and 4 Blues. They were much too slow, so Berry jumped in front and blocked their path. Team Rupert shifted left-and-right, left-right, but there was no getting around Berry. "AAAAAHH! !" Her giant teeth were inches from severing Rupert's head. "BERRY STOP, PLEASE! !"

He separated from his friends, taking 5 Purples and 6 Whites. Berry performed another terrific leap to block his path, so Rupert threw some Purples onto her fingers, making her wince. "Yow!" Angered, she swiped her claws at the Pikmin, but they flew over them as the wind gust knocked them down. She then aimed to snack on them- "NO! !" and Rupert jumped in front as the triangle teeth slammed on them all. Berry felt the 12 tinies on her tongue, tipping her head up to send them falling.

"WAAAAH!" Rupert nearly fell in the abyss first, but a chain of his Pikmin started from the tip of her tongue, with him dangling by his leg over Berry's throat. "B-Berry! It's me, stoooop!" The blood rushed to his head as he struggled to glance down (up), and a White Pikmin was considering letting go to choke the beast. "N-No, don't! She's still my friend, I don't wanna hurt 'er!"

"Hold on, Ruppy!" Timmy cried as he and Hikari successfully got onto Lilac's head, a chain of Pikmin connecting her two ears. They rode her like a horse and rammed her into Berry, the latter falling over as Rupert and co. flew out.

"GRRRR!" Fuming with rage, Berry pounced and pinned Rupert under her thumb-tip. The tiny boy froze with fear at those clenched fangs, his heart ready to jump out with all its beating. The last time Berry was this angry, Rupert ended up in the hospital. There would be absolutely nothing of him after this. His tiny, terrified eyes saw perfectly into Berry's bulbous, soulless eyes.

But that darkness died down in her eyes as they opened slightly. A wave of realization flew over her. "Rupert?"

"Eh, heheh… hey." He didn't let go of his fear, but sported a smile.

"Wh…How in the world."

"Ruppy?" Lilac looked around, the movement wobbling the passengers on her head. "I don't see him."

"H-He's…" Berry looked at him again, "Your parents're looking for you, and they got our moms.."

"Well, uh… it's a funny story with a lot of laughs. Y'see-"

A sudden whistle made the werecats jump. The garage door that led into the gym was slowly creaking open, and hundreds of cannoned bikes and scooters were raring to ride. "GIVE THESE BIG KIDS HEEEEECK!" All participating grade-schoolers were zipping 'cross the streets, set on nothing but the imposing middle school.

"Oh no! They're already at it!" Rupert exclaimed. "Berry, you gotta take us to follow them!"

"What, why?" Berry asked.

"Just come on, let's go!" He jumped frantically, signaling Berry to scoop him on her finger and place him on her hair. "You guys, get the Pikmin back to the Onions and hurry and join us! Let's GO!" Berry began rushing after the kids like a horse.

"Uhh… Rupert?" Timmy and Hikari were on the ground again with Lilac staring lovingly at them. "W-We're gonna need…"

"Hey! BAD kitty!" Hikari shouted. "Sit Lilly, sit!" Lilac sat. "Good girl!"

**Spirit World**

Miyuki stood in a gym-room-like field surrounded by trees as she breathed calmly and focused energy. She whirled her hands close to each other and channeled gray chi into a sphere, thrusting her arms forward and destroying three targets with a laser. "You're pretty good." Agatha said, shading herself from the sun with an umbrella. "Your natural chi must be pretty strong."

"I never knew that spirits _had_ any form of bending, besides the ones gods have to give them."

"All chi comes from this Spirit World energy, and as spirits are made of this kind of energy, the gods manipulate their spiritual bodies to take the form of element chi. The difference between them and Logia is, they're still intangible bodies of energy, and possess a more peaceful form of chi."

"But when my mom and her friends told us about being spirits, they still got damaged in the living world."

"I heard that they were inhabiting Gigai, artificial bodies for spirits to inhabit and interact with mortals. They touch things and can get hurt like regular bodies, and carry the flow of chi. But when the Grim Reaper used a Resurrection Stone on them, those artificial bodies became pure living bodies, allowing the spirits to stay."

"So our parents are using fake bodies?"

"They're using _new_ bodies, as far as I know about it. And either way, they were still enough to bear children."

But it just made Miyuki so curious. Is that how their parents have always looked pre-spirit, or did they bare totally different looks that changed once they inhabited their new bodies. She would have to look more into these Gigai.

"Anyway, about your chi." Aggie continued. "Normally timebenders have blue chi, but yours is gray. That color normally signifies the changing of ages."

"Yeah, that's always been my specialty. Manipulating ages or seeing into peoples' past."

"Timebenders that possessed a gray chi tend to have a close connection with the past, specifically the pasts of people or things. Even the dead. Timebenders with gray chi could touch even a fallen body and see its history. You could pick up a small rock, the only remains of an old temple, and see just where it came from."

"Are there other timebenders like that?"

"I read it in a book. You're the only one I know that has it. Still, it's a very unique power, and developing your energybending will help you control your timebending better. But you seem to have a good grasp of it now, with just a little more training.."

"Just how much are we training, exactly? I need to at least see how my friends are doing."

"Come inside and look at our Reflecting Pool. You'll see them."

Aggie led Miyuki into a dark room with a glowing, golden tub, the light presenting an eerie look on their dark forms as they peered inside.

_Sector IC was arduously trudging through the blizzard, having brought no coats and struggling to survive in the blistering cold as they were. Terry especially had to help MaKayla along as she was the least protected. They saw a shadowed clump lay dead in the snow a few feet away and rushed over to investigate. There was Miyuki on her back, eyes closed and still. "Miyuki!" MaKayla let go of Terry and knelt over her, putting a hand on her head._

_"Is she… dead?" gasped George._

_"I…I dunno. She feels warm, but… there's something off about her. I feel… a force."_

_"Does Obi-wan want her to come to Dagobah?" asked Terry._

_"It is a perfect reference, isn't it? Well, we can't just leave her here, let's take her and look for help fast. Hopefully Suki can't be far." She stepped aside as George lifted Miyuki in his arms. "It's strange… I hear a distant singing." MaKayla continued. "Is someone else on this mountain, too? But there's a weird energy about it…"_

_"Yes, it's the voice of fallen souls of stupid travelers who flew over the mountain LISTENING TO SOME LITTLE GIRL! !" Terry screamed._

_"Even if it is, there's nowhere else to go." George said. "Let's find this voice and see if it can help us find Suki. Or help Miyuki…"_

Miyuki pulled her head out and gasped for breath. "They're going to get lost if we don't help them."

"Our special operative is still out there as we speak." Rukia stated, entering the room. "He won't let them freeze. So I see your training is going well."

"She has gray Timebending Chi." Aggie mentioned. "She's able to touch people or things and view their history."

"That's a very useful power to have." Rukia said with near awe. "Some of history's biggest questions can be answered with a single touch.."

"I'm not a historian, why would I care about the story of some old ruin…"

"Everything that's happened in the past may still have relevance now. I haven't yet told you about the ghost that's haunting Arendelle Mountain."

"Is it a dangerous ghost?"

"Dangerous in a matter of speaking. It's a tormented soul that's been growing with misery for 300 years. The blizzard is a result of her anguish, making it a thriving place for Hollows. The Hollows have begun to drastically multiply, and we think they're moving in to make this ghost one of them. If she becomes a Hollow, they'll be unstoppable."

"Well, when are we going to stop them?"

"We expect the blizzard to finally slow down now. Which…" Rukia looked at the pool, seeing Jack Frost speaking to Suki, "it's just about gonna."

**Arendelle Mountains**

Suki's eyes were closed as she stood firmly in place, softly moving her arms. At this very moment, she felt nothing else but the skin-freezing cold, heard nothing but the angry snows. And the charming warm voice of Jack Frost. "You can do it, Suki. Just feel the blizzard. Feel the storm… and calm it down."

Yes… Suki did feel it. This storm… and where it came from. It was created by Ice Chi… Ice Chi flowed inside her… it flowed everywhere on this planet. It was cold… she loved the cold… it was so lovely… so magical… so _peaceful_…

Her arms glowed with a majestic blue as she threw them to the air, releasing two lovely beams as she opened her sunny eyes. The dark sky flashed blue, and in what seemed like a sudden warm _whoosh_, the blizzard slowed down. The starry sky was visible in the heavens, beyond a lovely aurora lights that Suki's ice had taken the form of. A gentle snow was falling over Arendelle, and it felt marvelous.

Jack's eyes lit with awe, as if never seeing something this beautiful. "Suki… you did it. You stopped the storm… _you did it!"_

_"I diiiiiid?"_ Suki would almost melt with all that light in her eyes.

"You did! Now we can finally go up there and talk to her! After ALL these years, I can!…" Jack was beside himself with joy.

"Hee hee hee! Ask her to the GHOOOOOOST daaaaaaance!" She pushed her cheeks together.

"Heheh… yeah… Let's get up there ASAP!" He was rushing to the castle first, with Suki hurrying beside him.

"Hey Jackie, I have to ask." she began. "Who IS this girl?"

"Oh, um… she's just an old friend. We used to live together, in this…in this kingdom." He still smiled, but his voice seemed to sink.

"Ooooo what happeeeened? Tell me, tell me, tell me! Did you make a TREEHOUSE together, or play in the SNOOOOW, hu—or!- or!- or!, you two promised to LOOOOOVE and _hug each other_ after deeeeeaaaath!"

He really wished it turned out that way. That's just the future Jack Frost had planned with Elsa. But things didn't go according to plan…

**Planet Glacia; 320 years ago**

A peaceful, sunny day over Arendelle Mountains. Any day on Planet Glacia where you could see the sun was a joyous occasion indeed, made the mountains feel a little less cold. There was already joyous activity going on in the southern peaks. "YEEEEAAAH!" A blue-eyed boy with brown hair, brown sweater, brown khaki shorts, and bare feet excitedly slid an ice-made board down a steep slope along a narrow mountainside, dodging to the left or right of rocks and jumping gaps. He was approaching a road between a close trench, sliding along the wall as he made a tight turn left.

He slid off a ledge at the trench's end and began making a series of long jumps across huge rock pillars, towering miles above the chasm. The last one had a wood bridge which he slid across, making it to a safe slope as he avoided more trees and swerved around a narrow, snaky path. "Almooost…" The path became straight, and the end was in sight. That is, before a polar bear walked in and blocked it. "WHOA!" He quickly formed an ice ramp to propel him over the animal, but he lost balance and went rolling down the following hill. "Ooh- ahh- AAH, ow, gah!" He finally stopped on his rear when the ground turned straight. "OW!" The iceboard hit his head.

"He he ha ha ha!" laughed a little brown-haired girl in a brown sweater.

"Hey, that didn't count, Jenna!" Jack yelled, rubbing his head.

"Diiiid too, diiiiid too!" Jenna danced and fell back in the snow. "You were AAAAALL ploppyyyyy."

"Well, just wait until the party." He brushed his hair back. "When I show off my grooves to Elsa, we'll be twinklin' in the sky." ;D

"Jackie loves the priiinceeeess, Jackie loves the priiinceeeeess!"

"No, not the _princess_. The _queen_." He winked coolly.

"Ohhhhh sure, Jackie. Get with the queen 'cause she's the first royal icebender born in centuries." She winked.

"Ahhhh, that's not what it's about. I just feel me and Elsa got a special connection. Like, we're bonded by fate… or somethin'."

"You only met her once at a noble family party. …When you tried to make an ice sculpture out of the punch to give to her and she had to break it off your tongue when you licked it."

"Eh, that was 9 years ago, she couldn't remember. This time, she's gettin' the _real_ taste of Jackster, and before you know it, I'm gonna be king."

"Just don't cause too big of a mess at the party." Their mom said, walking out of their mansion. "And put some shoes on, you'll look ridiculous." She chuckled.

"Pssh, icebenders don't need shoes, we're the champs of winter." Jack grinned.

"Yeah, and the champ of making himself embarrassed in front of the queen! Ha ha ha!" Jenna laughed.

"Oh, shut up."

**Royal Palace**

The palace courtyard was already bustling with townspeople, all eagerly chatting amongst friends and discussing different views on this new queen. Queen Elsa was inside the palace as her younger sister helped get her dressed, fixing gloves on her hands. "It's gonna be _fine_, Elsa. Just remember what Mom and Dad said: Conceal, don't feel.."

"Don't let it show." Elsa spoke with a sad, worried frown.

"And don't randomly burst into song." Anna grinned. "Now just stay inside 'til we call you, I'll go straighten out the refreshments!" She hurried off excitedly.

The Frost Family and many other nobles gathered into the palace courtyard and chatted amongst their selves. "Sigh, when's she gonna get out?" Jack whispered, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Jack, will you please put some shoes on, you look so out of place." his mom whispered.

"Mom, I'm a free spirit!" He proclaimed quietly. "My toes hang free, my hair blows free, and my soul will ride the snows 'til the ends of-" He startled to a halt when a light-brown Fjord horse charged and stopped in front of him.

"Easy there, Sitron!" said the dashing prince riding the horse. He had a slightly large nose, but smooth auburn hair with sideburns by his ears, and gorgeous green eyes. He had a white jacket over a blue shirt with a magenta tie, blue pants, black high-heel shoes, and white gloves. "I know you're excited, but we can't have you guzzle all the food ag-" He hopped off the left and-

"OW!" crushed Jack's right toes.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." Hans backed up sheepishly. "Oh, my horse didn't almost run you over, did he? I _told_ him to stop by the gate, but, sigh those steamed Floran Carrots really get him riled." The horse neighed in shame.

"No, it's alright…" Jack gripped his toes tight. "So who're you." He asked with slight resentment.

"Prince Hans of the Southern Isles at your service." He spoke humbly. "I came for the coronation of Queen Elsa. Is sheee…" He searched around.

"Hey, that's Jackie's girlfriend!" shouted Jenna. Jack immediately forced his foot over her mouth, but since that was the only one keeping him up at the moment, he fell.

"Jackie?" Hans understood by the gestures. "Oh, I-hi didn't mean to _imply_!" Hans chuckled. "If you were already together, then please, by all means. I'm just wondering-" He began to walk the opposite way, but as he turned at the same time, he bumped into someone and forced her punch bowl against her dress.

"Ooooooo." Anna shuddered. "Now I need to get a new dress! And more punch…"

"Oh! I'm… terribly sorry." Hans frowned.

The moment Anna looked up, it seemed everything began to move in slow motion. To them both. His gorgeous face with the silly big nose and cute freckles… Anna's beautiful clear face, also with cute freckles, and blue eyes that sparkled like ice… her hair looked so orange, he could taste it, and it'd be lovely. "…Uhh-h-h, Prince Hans, of the Southern Isles."

"Hehe… Princess Anna, of Arendelle!"

"Princess—!" He bowed immediately. "Wh-What an, embarrassing way to introduce myself."

"Hehe! …It's no big deal." Her face was as red as the punch on her blue gown.

"Heh heh… L-Let me come with you, to… clean it up."

"Um, sure.." Both held hands, smiling goofily as she led him into the castle.

Jack rolled his eyes, still on the ground, "What a player." Their attention was averted when the blares of horns sounded. The boy helped himself up and faced the stairs to the front gates, where four elders in ice-blue robes led the girl with an icy sparkling gown, snowy blonde hair, and ice-blue eyes out for everyone to see.

_"Everyone, we are proud to introduce, eldest daughter of King Adgar and Queen Idun, the first royal icebender in 500 years: Princess Elsa, the 104th Ruler of Arendelle!"_ One of the old sages brought to Elsa a small golden fountain, but insisted she remove her gloves. With slight worry, Elsa complied, taking the fountain as it began to spew water. "May a bright age arise under her rule, and may her powers protect Arendelle from invaders. Long live Queen Elsa!"

And with her powers, Elsa froze the fountain solid, and the unique streams that flowed from it formed into a sparkling, elegant crown befitting such a queen, except it was much too huge for her small head. Cheers erupted around the crowds as Elsa handed the crown back, slipping her gloves back on. "Time to _make_ mah mooove! Wish me luck." Jack winked at his family, licked his hand, and smoothed his hair before making his way to the front.

It wasn't easy to squeeze his way around all these coated people without getting his foot stomped, but by the time he was at the stairs, a sage was already leading Elsa inside. "Come with me. There's something I need to show you."

No doubt Jack was curious, looking to a small balcony along a nearby tower with an open window.

**Beneath the castle**

The sage alit the passage with a glowing blue ball of ice, leading Elsa down a deep, dark stairwell. "This is the greatest secret in our entire kingdom. An ancient relic we have treasured for eons."

He brought Elsa to a deep, vast chamber where a dark chasm surrounded a single, central platform. Jack Frost, having come his own way, crept within a small opening above the platform, watching the sage lead Elsa onto. Sat atop that platform was a big stone cube with ancient writing. "Behold…"

"What…What is this?" Elsa asked with awe.

"It's a Poneglyph. There are only seven of them in the whole universe, and they can only be read by certain people."

"What does it say?"

"No one in our generations has ever been able to decipher it. It was left here by the gods of old… and your family's sole duty has been to protect it. So one day, the person of destiny would come and read its script."

"But how will I know… when that person comes?"

"I don't know… all we could determine was the person meant to read it, is an icebender."

Elsa gasped. "But… I can't…"

"We aren't sure if it's you. But while Arendelle is a kingdom frolicking with icebenders, only one is born in the royal family every 500 years. And with very powerful chi that lasts even in the afterlife. We've always thought that, there was a meaning behind this. The fact that only an icebender could get here… even if you can't read it now, you may be the one to do so. …And whatever is written on this stone, will be _your_ responsibility."

The burden of being a queen sounded troublesome enough… but what if she _was_ the one meant to read this message? What ultimate task would she have to carry out? It made her heart race.

From high upon his perch, Jack could sense the anxiety Elsa was feeling. "…WHOA!" With a single light step, Jack slipped and plummeted to the platform below, startling the two as he crashed on his head. "Uhhhh-" He flipped back to his feet, "Hey!"

"Who are you? !" Elsa hissed.

"Elsa, it's me, Jack! Remember? 9 years ago? …Punch stuck to the tongue?"

"Jack, what are you DOING down here? !"

"Well uh, was a little curious," he grinned and moved sheepishly, "you being mysterious, following you to this mysterious… rock."

"Look, just get out of here and DON'T say a word about this. Not that it's any good to anyone…"

"Oh yeah, I can read it."

"You can? !"

"Yeah, it's just uh, _dedededede…"_ He walked closer and skimmed it. "'Here lies our fabled Gibberish Rock, made to baffle royals for eons, anyone who learns the true purpose of this rock may be wedded to the princess as his reward for keeping her from wasting brainpower on it', etc. etc., so let's hang out." He grinned coolly.

"Ugh! Who let you in the castle, anyway, how'd you get down here?"

"I let myself in." He said coolly. "And I followed the Call of Love to where my queen would be." He sported a sparkling grin.

"Uh." She rolled her eyes and walked away. "Let's just go."

**Castle halls**

"Look Jack, I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. And you and me just won't work." Elsa kept her hands folded on her front while Jack had his behind his head in a laid back fashion. "I've just become Queen, I have a responsibility to protect the kingdom, to make sure everyone's happy and control these crazy powers, and if the daily newspaper about some little prankster freezing the teashop isn't lying, all YOU care about is-" When she turned left, Jack was gone. "AAAAH!" Upside-down, hanging from a chandelier by his legs and an ice chain, Jack grabbed Elsa's hands and flipped her on top with him. She clutched the chain for dear life as the chandelier swayed. "Being a troublemaker! !"

"Having FUN." Jack smiled coolly (how else does he smile), standing straight with great balance.

"Get us down!"

With a shrug, Jack took her hand and slid down an ice path. They continued their walk. "What're you talkin' about CRAZY powers, you're the first princess in decades to have 'em and yours're better than anyone's!"

"You just don't understand, do you, my Ice Chi doesn't want to stay in, if I don't keep 'em under control, they'll freeze the whole kingdom."

"And what planet is this?"

"One that doesn't need to be COLDER than it is!"

"Y'know, maybe your powers are going so crazy BECAUSE you don't let 'em out. If there's one thing I know about icebending, my ice just itches to get out every day and do fun stuff. Elsa, if you don't let your ice out, your body will IMPLODE upon itself, creating a force that rivals a hundred atomic bombs that turns EVERY living creature on this planet into chunks of uniquely frozen shapes of water!"

"My parents taught me to be a levelheaded princess who knows self-control and conceals any rebellious side of her _inside_. And by controlling myself, I can easily control some silly ice."

"Siiiiigh. Well if that's how you feel. But uhhhh, Elsa."

"What?" Jack glided past her front.

"Gotchor gloves." He grinned mischievously, wiggling the gloves.

"! ! HEY, GIVE THOSE BACK!" Jack jumped out the window and slid to the roof via ice path as Elsa slid after, struggling to keep balance on her ice-made high-heels as she chased Jack, who was far more nimble, across the roof.

Jack thrusted his arms down and propelled himself high up a tower with ice blasts, shattering the conjured trail as he smirked down at Elsa. "Careful, Princess. Don't lose control. Conceal, don't feel, get punked by a total cutie."

"Oh you SON OF A-" Elsa thrusted her arms down and shot at Jack like a rocket, the boy already hopping to the parallel tower. Jack slid around the towers via ice path as Elsa chased on her own path, and the guests down below gaped in awe as two trails of ice wrapped around the towers like giant ribbons.

"Her Highness is truly fantastic!" a woman gaped.

"Mmm, and Jack Frost is with her, is his punishment to serve her?" a man inquired.

_"Jack, what in Polaris' name are you doing?"_ questioned his mom.

"GOOOO Jackiiiie!" Jenna cheered.

Jack took the slide down the back of the castle and toward a mountain, hopping off as he made the dash up. Elsa tried to chase, but her high heels didn't move well in the deep snow, so she was forced to ditch them and chase on bare feet, also having to hold her dress up so she didn't trip.

Jack made it onto a flat ground with a dead end, and when he saw Elsa coming, he brushed his hands across the ground and turned it to solid ice. Elsa immediately slipped and started sliding to him on her bottom, and Jack didn't move aside before he was pushed off his feet and facefirst onto Elsa's face. "Hehe." He grinned sheepishly in her surprised, gaping face.

The queen pushed him off and stood, throwing a beam that froze Jack's body to the ground except his head. "OW!" Elsa planted her right foot against Jack's cheek, keeping him down. _"You know you got pretty nails."_ Indeed her toenails were as icy as her eyes.

"…" A smirk found its way on Elsa's face, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

They were back on more snowy ground and spiraling dozens of snowmen together with helmets and polearms, sending them to clash with each other. Jack created a snowcannon and fired, but Elsa raised an ice wall that shielded her and launched a storm of ice arrows at her opponent, who bent like a stickman and avoided. Elsa spun together a big ice shovel, and Jack created a rake as the two ran at each other and dueled. The snowtools eventually fell apart as Jack slid and spun a whirlpool below Elsa's feet, causing her to slip and fall, but thinking quickly, Elsa spun and caused the snow to rise instead, letting her jump to a mountaintop. She made many huge snowballs rise from the mountain, and Jack mimicked as they both readied to launch at each other. Both snow storms flew, an equal amount that blocked them perfectly, until Jack shielded himself in a snowball and rolled up the mountainside.

The snowball flew above Elsa as Jack shot out and grabbed her, the two rolling down the mountain as a snowball formed around them both. When it bounced, the two shot out and surfed the sky across trails of ice, tiny blue sparkles raining everywhere gently.

They returned to the roof of the castle and lied back with arms behind their heads. "I should go find my shoes, but… eh, it's kinda nice without them."

"Yeah, when that chill spreads between your toes, it really gets you goin'."

"I've always stayed inside the palace to keep my powers under control, but… I've never felt better. There's this feeling in my heart…" She held a hand by her chest, "like a huge weight's been lifted off me. It feels more…"

"Free." Jack rolled onto all fours. "When you act on impulse, and let yourself have a little fun, your spirit becomes more free. That's what I read in an old airbender book. Ice is close to Air as it gets, so why not?"

"It wasn't hard to keep them under control either." Elsa stared at her hands. "Maybe I can control my ice better, if I just let it blow more freely."

"That's the spirit." Jack lied back again. "Just don't worry about what'll happen and everything will turn out-"

_"Elsa, THERE you are!"_ They looked onto the nearby tower balcony, seeing Anna and Hans staring down at them.

"I guess we aren't the only ones enjoying ourselves." Hans remarked with a witty smile.

Jack and Elsa exchanged humorous smiles and rocketed their selves up to the two. "Weeee have some _newwwwws!"_ squealed Anna quietly. "Hans and I—_should I say it?"_

"By all means." Hans bowed.

"We're getting married! !"

_"What?"_ questioned Elsa with concealed panic. _"Anna, can we talk?"_ She led her inside rushedly.

Hans and Jack were left to their selves, viewing the party down below. "Ever wanted to say something crazy and suddenly, your whole world turns bright?" the prince asked.

"I've had those feelings." Jack replied, leaned forward against the railing.

"And by the looks of things, those feelings have led us to become brothers-in-law."

"Heh heh heh." Jack had to laugh at that. "Right. Except _how_ long have you known Anna?"

"Well, half an hour ago. But after sliding around the halls on socks for that long, and singing some song about love, it's moments like those you _really_ know, she's the one." Hans looked at the starry heavens, lost in them as he was in Anna's eyes just moments ago. "Or in your case, having to get a punch sculpture off your tongue."

Jack blushed. "Oh-ho, she told you that, huh?" He grinned nervously.

"It's _small_ little gestures like that and such _short_, fated meetings that tell you, the stars have aligned for you to be together. And for both of us, the stars have sent us that message in the form of punch."

"Heheh… well 'f you ask me," he turned and leaned on his back, "I never like to rush these fates too quickly. I sorta like to, play the field, yeah I like Elsa, but it's never very fun when we get there too quickly, I like to steadily work my way there 'til she's _cool_ with the _Frost_." His grin twinkled.

_"Anna, get BACK here!"_

"No!" Anna stormed back out and clutched Hans' arm. "Why won't you give us your blessing? !"

"Because you don't even _know_ him, we can't just let anyone into the royal family so easily!"

"Oh, like you weren't letting JACK into your little ice show."

"I DIDN'T let him in, he was just…"

"He was just showin' you a good time." Jack said smoothly.

"He was WASTING my time with some silly snowball fight when I SHOULD'VE been looking over things at the party, especially YOU two!"

"Elsa, I know you have a hard time with your powers, but you've been acting REALLY sour since our parents died, and I think the only reason you can't understand our love is 'cause YOU'RE too concealed on your emotions to see ANYTHING."

"And who was it that was _helping_ me conceal those powers?"

"The powers are one thing, I was just being nice, but it didn't mean you had to conceal ME from anyone I wanna share my LIFE with."

"If you just decide to share your life with _any_ random person, how can I let you-" The sounds of distant screams distracted them.

_"YOUR HIGHNEEEESS! The monsters from the Chilly Depths are invading the castle!"_ Beyond the castle gates were legions of ice demons marching up the mountain, armed with weapons and catapults that launched giant ice chunks into the courtyard.

Jack and Elsa skied to the gates and fought the monsters away with their powers as Chilfos climbed over the wall. "EVERYONE, get inside the palace!" Elsa ordered. "Stay in the dungeons until we tell you to come out!"

The monsters were piling in fast, the citizens scrambling to get inside the castle. Jack blew ice trails along the ground to make Chilfos slip as he searched around desperately for his family. "AAAH!" He looked and saw his mom kicked to the ground by a Chilfos, ready to pierce her with its spear. Jack saw a wood cane on the ground, likely discarded by an old man, swiping it and skiing over fast as he caught the creature's spear in the hook from behind and yanking it away, forming an iced point atop the hook to slice the monster's head off.

He helped his mom up, "Mom, where's Jenna? !"

"JACKIIIIEE!" He was horrified when he saw his sister hanging from a Freezard's teeth by her coat as it leaped over the eastern wall.

As he skied over the wall to save her, more monsters burst through the front gates, charging to the castle fast. Elsa was furiously throwing ice beams, making spikes rise from beneath them and creating ice walls to further block, which she also pushed to keep them back. She started to panic as they continued to pile in, unable to blast her powers any faster. "UUH!" The monsters succeeded in shoving her down and trampling the ice queen like a dead matt on the floor. The bruises were multiplying, and no matter how much she wanted to, they gave her no time to stand. _"UUUUUUUHHHH!"_

A great blue light burst into the sky, the queen emitting a small explosion that blew the demons off of her. Many beams of ice flew everywhere, crashing the tops of many mountains and making the clouds turn blue.

The Freezard was charging up a gorge along a mountain as Jack chased on the left ledge. But both faced ahead when the mountain shook, and a massive avalanche began to slide down. _"RAAAH!"_ The monster was caught in the snow current and began to slide down, tossing Jenna up in the air in his rage.

She took land just on the right ledge, but couldn't keep balance before she fell back. "WAAAAH!"

A gloved hand saved her from doom, pulling her onto the horse behind Prince Hans. "Don't worry! You're safe now."

"Hans!" Jack beamed.

"NEEEIGH!" The horse panicked when the snowy ground gave way, plummeting all three into the river.

"HANS!" Jack screamed.

"Er-, here!" The prince threw Jenna up to Jack's ledge, the boy swinging his cane for her to grab. He stood on the edge of the cliff, struggling to pull up her heavy body (he noticed she was a bit heavier than Elsa for some reason). But another shake caused Jack to slip off, while he swung the cane and flung Jenna onto the ledge.

"JACKIIIIEE!" She reached for him in despair.

"JENNA, I'll be all right, get to the castle! !" With very mixed feelings, his sister hurried off.

But the snow was surprisingly strong even for Jack. He rose and sunk, over and over in this thick white river, and no matter how much he tried to blow it back, he couldn't find the strength to stand or throw his ice.

At the palace, Elsa's ice beams couldn't come faster, and it almost felt like her arms were throwing their selves. She couldn't conceal the storm inside her, not when her kingdom was in danger. Her parents told her to keep her powers under control, Anna helped her to accomplish that, but this was the only way. In order to keep the kingdom out of their control, she had to lose control herself, lose control until there was nothing left. She understood why Jack was the little free spirit he was, because this was the only way to hold back creatures with no order. So when swarms of them succeeded in bypassing her, heading for the castle, Elsa spun like a whirlwind and let the beams of ice flow.

"ELSA, we got everyone-" The moment Anna rushed out was when a beam pierced her heart.

Elsa immediately froze. Anna struggled to get back to her feet, shivering like she was in the deepest part of the coldest freezer. "E-Elsa… Why…" Her arm stretched out to her sister before her whole body transformed into solid, blue ice.

Elsa couldn't bring herself to move, her face ridden with guilt. Not even the frozen spear that pierced her heart from behind could match it. A Chilfos had successfully claimed a fatal blow on the queen, a devilish grin on his frosty face. Small cracks began to spread along Elsa's body, glowing blue as tremendous energy began to build inside her. The royal palace, and all of Arendelle around it, was swallowed in an expanding sphere of snow and ice.

Arendelle never saw the sun again, never saw anything but pitch-black skies and freezing winds. The avalanches buried hundreds of people beneath many feet of snow, among them Prince Hans and Jack Frost. No signs of life could be seen anywhere.

Jack found himself lying in a mound of snow on a dark, barren mountain. He didn't feel any pain as he stood up, but was confused as to why his brown sweater turned blue. Also, why didn't the spot he was laying in have a snow-shape, why did his hair dye like snow, and why did he leave no footprints? Why did he feel absolutely weightless. _"Confused?"_ Jack looked up when a bright blue light lowered down to him. The stone, shivering colossus with the massive snowflake on his back. _"I… am Polaris."_

"Polaris, the… Snow God?"

_"Yes. Who better for a mischievous icebender like yourself to meet than me as you pass to the Spirit World?"_

"Are you saying I'm… dead?"

_"Indeed, but alas, your effort to save your sister was for naught. She, and all of Arendelle were destroyed… by Elsa's wrath."_

"No…. No!" Jack was seething in rage, unable to process this so suddenly. "That can't be true! Jenna… Elsa… THERE'S NO WAY ALL OF THEM CAN BE DEAD!"

_"This was this kingdom's ultimate fate. The fate for Elsa, having used her powers so haphazardly. Perhaps if you haven't persuaded her to suddenly start using them-"_

"SHUT UP!" Jack threw a nonexistent ice blast at the god. "If ELSA hadn't used her power, EVERYONE would've been killed anyway, you CAN'T pin the blame on either of us! And I don't care WHAT happened, I'm GLAD I taught Elsa to be more free! Now her spirit will be BETTER than ever!"

_"Is that so? Well… perhaps you'd like to see her?"_ Polaris swallowed Jack in a blinding blue light.

"Let it GOOO! Let it GOOO! Can't hold back aaaanymooooore!" The palace still stood, sparkling with beautiful ice, and Elsa danced on its balcony, a green aura around her body as she let her ice flow everywhere. Jack and Polaris were hovering high in the heavens above her.

"What-… She's still alive?"

_"Her spirit appears well, but in fact, she is a ghost. A ghost that is eternally tethered to what she did to her sister. Just look."_ What Jack saw horrified him. A statue frozen in solid ice, much like this whole castle. Her face was desperate for warmth, reaching out in despair.

"Anna…"

_"Because of her lack of control, her sister will now stand stiff, frozen for all eternity. Elsa died, knowing this. Her heart sunk in this unbearable guilt, and this carried to her spirit. And because of her powerful Ice Chi, which has remained with her as a spirit, this mountain has been swallowed in an endless blizzard where not even the Reapers can claim her. As you see, she is desperately trying to let her pain go, but her guilt remains glued to her deep down. She will forever remain as a ghost bound to this world, never to truly shed her sorrow and become a spirit."_

Jack felt the greatest sorrow. All he wanted was for Elsa to be more free… but seeing her this happy, masking unbelievable sorrow inside of her… he couldn't bear to see her in this much pain. "I'm… sorry."

_"The fault is not yours, Jack. True, Elsa would've had pain as a spirit, had she been more concealed. You were following your own beliefs, so now your spirit can be free."_

"I can't be free until I help her!"

_"You must be patient. Help will come to her, but she must look into herself. …I can assure you, however… your sister and family are safe in the Spirit World."_

"They… are?" Jack felt a sense of relief.

_"But your attempts to rescue her will not go unnoticed… I have a proposition for you. I will give back your Ice Chi and allow you to roam the Mortal World as an Ice Spirit. To protect children in danger from the evils of winter. But you must stay away from Elsa. Her power far exceeds yours as a spirit."_

Jack looked at his friend. Her lovely vocals echoed for miles beyond the mountains. As a ghost, her lungs would never grow tired, singing that song for ages. "…Sigh, okay."

So Polaris touched a finger to Jack, a blue light shining for a few brief seconds before it faded. Jack opened his palm as a snowflake softly floated. _"For you, also."_ Polaris gave Jack a wooden cane, the same as he used in the last moments of his life. _"Do not leave your soul tethered to her. See that other children… can have free spirits."_ And with that, Polaris dispersed into snow.

Jack spared one final look at Elsa. Trapped in her ghostly limbo, she drew farther away as Jack soared to the heavens. He would return to her.

**Present time**

After all these years… he may finally have a chance. With Suki, her unbreakable spirit… maybe she was all he needed to save Elsa from her despair. It had to be… and he was going to save her… no matter what.

**Base of the mountains; Chilly Depths**

Swarms of Hollows were gathering at the foot of these mountains. Some small, walking on all fours like animals. Some as high as skyscrapers, pitch-black like moving trees. In a dark, dead cave was a Hollow like no other, a human-like one on two legs, dark cloak with red and white designs and spiky edges, and the grim Hollow mask. Four more Hollows who bared similar designs appeared in the cave out of black smoke, gathering before their leader. "The spirit is moving up the mountains. Children are within the mountains as well, but we've lost sight of the ghost kids." One of them spoke in a grim voice, only his eyes exposed above his mask.

_Member of the Arendelle Arrancar Gang_

_Former BOE member_

_LEGION_

"AH HAHAhahahahaha!" cackled a witch with pitch-black hair, black lips, and a black cloak with skeletal designs, the top-right of her mask broken off. "He's tryin' to save ELSA after all this time! What a itty, bitty, _baby_."

_Member of Arendelle Arrancar Gang_

_Former Death Eater_

_BELLATRIX LESTRANGE_

"His chances are futile. But at least we'll be able to collect a few extra souls." spoke a white-haired woman with wrinkly skin and blood-red designs all over her cloak.

_Former BOE member_

_Avatar Realms denizen_

_Bloodbender HAMA_

"Those monsters, and their _sorcery_ and witchcraft which goes against God," spoke the last member with deep hatred, bright blue flames burning on the shoulders of his cape, "dare to pollute the world He hath created. My duty, as God has given me, is to drag them into the fiery pit from whence they came."

_Former Judge and gypsy hunter of Cité des Cloches_

_CLAUDE FROLLO_

"How DARE you call us monsters… FILTHY MUGGLE!" screamed Bellatrix.

"He is as his God made him." Hama said.

"Well, the storm has finally calmed." Legion followed. "Shall we move up?"

_"…Begin moving. We take the castle tonight."_

_"As you command: Lord Hans."_ they chorused.

The leader's mask opened, revealing the visage of the once-handsome prince, his green eyes soulless. "About 320 years behind schedule. But better late than never."

_"NEEEEEEIIIIIGH!"_ His dark ghost-horse Sitron cried an otherworldly neigh, pitch-black with exposed bones and flaming blue eyes and hair.

* * *

><p><strong>So really, the flashback wasn't THAT major to the whole grand scheme, I just didn't feel comfortable summarizing it in dialogue. I mean, imagine if I did it that way, then look at this version, wouldn't you agree? Next time will be the conclusion of the Frozen Saga. So stay tuned.<strong>


	10. Let It Go

**What better fitting chapter for it to happen than the 10th?**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Let the Storm Blow No More! The Sun Shines Over Arendelle.<em>**

**Midway Peak**

7pm was finally here, and the Excess Express finally arrived at Midway Gala, taking place upon a balcony on a mountain that towered miles above the ocean below; so high one could almost see where the Earth curved round. The Corporate Presidents and their children all stepped off to join. Many rich types in powdery wigs and uniforms sat at curtained tables and socialized. Mom was the last one to step off, walking awkwardly. The other presidents passed this off as the result of her injury, but that wasn't the case. "Nnn! _Keep up, you little brat!"_ she hissed under her breath.

Cheren squatted low and walked with Mom under her dress, feeling very awkward about his position. He took a very light peek through the front, glancing up as the mountain seemed to go forever. "Mom? Where are we, exactly?" he whispered.

Mom glanced around to see no one was close enough. "This is just one floor of the Holy Ground, Mt. Mariejoa. It's the tallest mountain in the world, and the World Government's ultimate headquarters. At the very base of this mountain is Enies Lobby, the base of the Teen Ninjas and the secret assassin group, CP10."

"Enies Lobby, I've heard of that. The Sea Train from Water 7 goes there."

"The government specially ordered their skilled carpenters to build the track there a long time ago. But they're just small time. We're at the Midway Peak, which is the Corporate Presidents' main base, and where the Head President lives. And the very top of the mountain rests the World Leaders' castle. The mountain was modeled after the Sky and Spear Pillars, and it's said this used to belong to the Light Goddess, Palutena. I dunno how the World Leaders could've occupied it."

Cheren glanced around further, and took notice of a familiar, puffy-haired blonde girl in a green dress, standing by her lonesome. "Carol!"

"What?" Mom asked.

"Huh? Oh, not you, it's someone my friends know."

"Hmph." She glanced at the girl. "Small world."

Mom stepped over to a table as Cheren crept under its curtain. "Now just stay out of sight until the Head President appears. And when she does, _kill her."_ She spoke with a grim look. She walked away casually as Cheren remained in place. Killing the top head in front of so many rich, powerful types… this was Cheren's hardest mission, yet. But… he would see it through.

Cheren glanced under the curtain and found Doflamingo's daughter, Sugar standing by the railing and viewing the horizon. The gentle wind breezed past her hair and coat as she played a calm, peaceful tune on a small leaf. It eased Cheren's mind from the mission… until Sugar stopped after 30 seconds.

**Hendry Middle School**

Hendry Middle School. A fortress that's been through many trials throughout the years. Even though it was destroyed almost 21 years ago, and newly rebuilt 15 years ago. It was the perfect hideout for Teen Ninjas. They posed as "Hall Monitors" to the teachers, in just really fancy outfits, but any kid outside the school would know their true purpose. "Hey Slider, you got a date for the Summer Dance, yet?" a ninja patrolling the roof asked.

"Nah, but I'm thinkin' of asking Nya, she's got a nice bod. Only other guy she likes is her cousin. Whadda 'bout you?"

"That Tracy girl is cute, I think her dad was even-"

_"Snot-nosed twerps off the southern gate! Repeat, SNOTTY kids approaching the south gate!"_

The duo scrambled to get some binoculars and view the small sea of bikes and trikes zooming to their school. "READY the Fountain Cannons! Load the Footbombs and NEXT PERSON THAT TOUCHES MY IPOD'S GETTIN' THEIR HEAD RUN THROUGH!"

High-tech Teen bikes came zooming out of the school as the child bikes started blasting tennisballs against the Teens' wheels, and banana peels at their windshields, causing them to swerve away and crash. The bikes in the back rows dropped streams of marbles that caused any Teen attempting to turn back to crash as well. "Look out! Here come the Jets!" cried the Second Grade President, Richard Teague in his nasally voice, as a storm of football-players with jetshoes flew overhead, wielding deadly Footbombs. "Sooper Spitballers, FIRRRRE!" He and a team of kids grabbed straws and began shooting a barrage of spitballs. Despite their small and feeble-looking appearance, they destroyed each Footbomb in one hit upon impact. "Hah hah! Hasta la vista, Dum-Dums!"

"Yeah, but what're we gonna do about the Sumo Squad?" asked Third Grade President, Leon Anderson Sobs, the miserable goth leader. Ahead were rows of chubby teenagers in nothing but underwear, _"HUR, HUR, HUR."_ stomping forward and erecting great stone walls from the street.

"Those cowardly earthbenders!" yelled Richard. "Well, we'll stomp 'em! GET 'EM, Bull-Blockers!" Here came a team of huge bulldozers made entirely of blocks, for those children studied from Joey Beatles to perfect them to near-realistic. They tore down the earth walls like actual machinery, letting the trikes charge forward and ram the sumos' toes.

Hurriedly following behind the army of kids, Berry Bean and Lilac Farley rushed on all fours with their passengers onboard. "Why are we breaking into this school again?" Berry asked Rupert, who was in her right cat-ear.

"'Cause they think they kidnapped Shelly and Jessie so we gotta look for them first. If they aren't there, we have to warn 'em somehow."

"'kay, but we gotta take you back home after this."

"Ulp… I'd really not rather my dad see me like this."

"Well moms are scarier, and they're on your side. You won't need to worry."

The werecats rushed to the right of the school as Berry pounced and slashed an air duct clean open, quickly crawling through as a quartet of clangs echoed from her hands and boots banging the metal. She slashed open another duct and dropped in, hearing Lilac following after. "See them anywhere?" asked Berry.

"Uhhhh." Rupert saw them, all right. They had broken in the school's swimming pool, where dozens of teen girls in swimsuits roamed about or splashed in the sparkly water. There were dudes there too, but he didn't care.

"Rupert!"

The boy blinked, "Oh! Uhhh well we could ask around."

"Okay. HEY, ANY OF YOU SEEN A LITTLE TWERP IN SWIMGEAR AND SOME INDIAN GUY?" She yelled the only description of them she could recall.

All of the slim and muscular girls and boys fixed their gazes on them, eyes turning grim. "…Someone lose their drawers?" asked Ruppy.

Streams of water gushes came flying at the cats, the two flexibly avoiding and making their dash out of the room. "Didn't expect 'em to be waterbenders!" Timmy shouted.

"I don't WANNA be in there!" Lilac cried.

"Let's split up and search the school." Rupert said. "If we don't find them, let the leaders know ASAP!" The werecats nodded and found their way to the halls, galloping like horses. "WHOA!" Berry yelped when storms of lasers began firing everywhere in attempt to singe them, her catlike reflexes enabling her to avoid.

"Come on, search the lockers!" yelled Ruppy.

"Fine. HEY, you in here?" She ripped open a locker containing a pile of glop. "HEY, you in here?" A locker containing a shrine of a girl's crush. "HEY, you in here?" A locket containing a nerd. "HeeeeeeEEEEEEYYYYYYYY." Whirling like a tornado, she slashed open every single locker in the hopes of finding someone (they cared about). "Huff, huff… WHOA!" The Fountain Cannons began blasting at her, Berry leaping about and running forward again. As she was approaching a second-floor walkway, several spikes emerged from the floor, so Berry pounced onto the trophy case, to a wall spear which she gripped in her teeth and whirled around, and flung to the walkway's railing which she grabbed and hauled herself over, racing through the 2nd-floor hall.

Lilac was joyfully running the first floor as the elementary-schoolers had broken in, penetrating the defenses with the random werecat's slashes. "Must be another magic experiment the kindergarteners did." thought one second-grader.

In the computer lab, a certain goateed teenager in sunglasses stood up from his seat. "O-kay, this is getting old. Let's see if these twerps can match this." Gage started typing on his laptop, summoning four Flash-made teenagers armed with guns. They headed out to the hall and began launching missiles at any kids riding down, blowing them away.

"They're just solid holograms!" cried Richard. "Keep spitting!" His Spitballers kept shooting, but the Programs only fizzed a little bit before one whipped out nun-chucks and whipped the kids off their bikes.

"Let's see how you deal with more bandwidth!" a 3rd-grader exclaimed, pulling out his iPod to download two movies. The computers in the lab were lagging horribly, and Gage's Programs were glitching.

Many kids were able to zip by, watched spitefully by Susanne Suave in a classroom. "That's it!" She stomped out to the hall. "Time to give those kids the SLIP!" Her thick clothing came flying off, unveiling the red bikini underneath.

"MISS SUAVE, clothe yourself right NOW. We are NOT at the SWIMMING pool!" yelled a teacher.

"THERE IS NOTHING SHAMEFUL ABOUT THE FEMALE FORM! !" Then squirting lotion all over her body, she slid into the hallway and left a trail of the slippery substance, causing the bikes to immediately slide out of control upon crossing it. "Ah ha ha ha! I knew you kids would fall to my, smoothness!" She flexed backward after slowing to a stop.

"We don't like girls yet, you ugly HAG!" a boy yelled.

"UGH!" She whipped out her lotion and shot a glob directly into the kid's eyes.

"AAAAAH! MY EEEEEYES!"

"Well you CLEARLY weren't using them, anyway. Wha?" She looked across the hall as an animal appeared to be running on all fours.

"Raa-hooooooo!" She was half-right, for it was Lilac Farley. "Scratchy cushioooonnn!" She pounced straight at Susanne's chest, grabbed tight, and began clawing away.

"AAAAAAHH! MY SKIN, GET OFF ME, GET OFF ME!" She punched several times until Lilac flew off, staring at the many bloody lines. "Uck! ! My perfect skin! Oh I am gonna KILL you you stupid cat!" She stomped forward with impending rage. "NO ONE MESSES UP MY SKIN EXCEPT-" But a powerful, pungent odor suddenly invaded her nose. "Ooooohhh." She collapsed onto her back.

"Heheh." laughed Timmy, who along with Hikari took land on the floor following Lilac's fall. "Thankfully I had some Wings carry White Pikmin into your nostrils. THAT'LL last ya a few days."

"Good girl, Lilac!" Hikari beamed as the werecat crouched before her, tongue out in excitement. "Good kitty!" Lilac gently licked her in gratitude. "Hee haha ha ha ha!"

Berry continued to race every which way, having sliced every locker she passed and ransacked every classroom. "This is gettin' really repetitive, Rupert." Berry stated.

"I guess they aren't here after all." Rupert concluded once they made it to a steampipe room. "We have to get to the leaders and tell them-"

"REOOOOWW!" Berry leaped back when a hammer almost smashed her.

"I don't like cats." said recent KND traitor, Alexei Abramovici. "I don't like brats. Mixing the two together, a sin that should never come to be."

"You wanna see another sin? My mom taught me THIS one." Berry held up a rather unpleasant finger.

"Then it's time you faced justice." He started lashing his hammer and his cane as Berry flipped back, beginning to pounce and kick around the pipes before getting behind and tackling Alex. "Hrrrruph." He shot up and swung, making Berry pounce back.

"Is that all you got, those silly sticks?" smirked Berry cockily. "I've battled dogs that were tougher than that!"

_"Good afternoon, Team Hendry."_ spoke a deep, smooth voice through the PA. _"There's a couple of tykes runnin' around today. So it's time to ease their wild minds with the stylin' tunes of Ramblin' Rodrigo."_

_"Oyy. Buenos días, __los_ _niños."_ said the thick, Spanish accent into the speakers. The most charming, soothing, mystical tune they would ever hear began sounding throughout the halls. _"Ohhhhh__. __Miiii_ _amanteeee. Ohhhhh__. __Mi_ _luna creciente."_ Gentle guitar strums. _"Cuando pienso en…"_

Those mystical vocals easily reached Berry and Lilac's sensitive ears. "Uhhh… Lily?" said Timmy when the werecat fainted.

"B-Berry- HEEEY!" Rupert screamed when Berry finally fell down.

"_Ohhhhh_- don't listen to it." a 4th-grade officer tried to yell, their heads swaying, hands planted on their ears, while others already fell. "Think about drinking soda, and playing videogames aaaaall night, until you get really…really… _sleepy_. …"

"Hmph." scoffed Alexei at the snoozing Berry (not seeing Rupert). "You kittens are all the same. Soft and simple when it comes down to it. Good-bye." He raised his hammer to smash the cat. A dart immediately whipped down and stuck his neck. "Mmph!" He collapsed on the floor.

_"UUUH!"_ Rodrigo screamed, so they assumed he was struck too, his music stopping.

"Huh? !" exclaimed Nya LaMar when several more Teen Ninjas were darted. "What's going on? !"

"The Kindergarteners!" cried a ninja when many shorter kids in Indian outfits with crayon makeup began to fall from the vents. "Grab the runts we can and let's split!"

"RETREEEEAAAAT!" The Gallaghers hurriedly scrambled to get away, rescuing any snoozing kid they could, but some were unfortunately kidnapped.

Rupert looked when a brown-skinned Kindergartener with orange makeup and a gruff face came down from the dark of the pipes. "You. Cat Creature." He nudged Berry's body. "Awaken. Must get out now."

Berry startled awake, and seeing the child retreat, she glanced at Rupert on her head before making a dash for the exit. She reunited with Lilac in the hall, running side-by-side as Rupert viewed over to Tim and Hikar. "Did you find them? ?"

"No, they weren't anywhere." Timmy shouted. "But it looks like Joey brought the Kindergarten Tribes."

"Well, it's no use staying. Let's get outta this nuthouse."

Berry and Lil were soon dashing out of the middle school alongside dozens of remaining bikers. Rupert turned back astonished when the tremendous fortress started to move away.

**Later…**

The kids regrouped a few miles from the school, where Fifth Grade Leader, David Keith, spoke with the Kindergarten Chief. "Joey tell us, your presidents in big-heap trouble. We come help, 'fore bad things happen."

"Well, bad things happened." said David. "They got Third Grade Leader now, too. And no sign of First or Fourth."

"You rush in, without thinking. Middle-schoolers big. And smart. But also stupid. But not stupid enough. You should know better."

"Well I TOLD YOU we should've thought up a PLAAAAN! Ow- HEEEEEY!" Richard whined when someone threw a Whisbee at him.

"Well up 'til now, we all agreed Fourth Grade would be the primary leading grade." David said. "But under the circumstances, I think _I_ should take over until we can find them. Let's head back to school and finish our day for now. Principal Rachel can only allow extended recess for so long…"

"Friend Hikari missing, too." said the chief. "Hope they come up soon." So with that, the graders rode to school on their bikes while the Kindergarteners followed on wooden horses on wheels.

"Oh, man. Things just went from bad to worse." Rupert frowned. "If only we knew where Shelly was, 'cause then we could find Sappo and Gibli, too."

"Well, we could at least help you guys, first." Berry told him. "We're taking you back home so your parents can find you. Then we can all look for those guys. Okay?"

Rupert still hated the idea of his dad seeing him this way… but the more people aware of their existence, the better, he supposed. At least his mom would be there, too. "Okay." So the long, tireless race to Ashland, West Virginia began.

**Miracle City**

Sector V would never understand how a monster of that fortitude smashed them with such force, they were merely knocked out in a hole in the ground. They awoke to find their selves in a dank, cave-like dungeon, with just enough light to see that. "Ohhhh… guys, this town… blows. …" moaned Aurora.

"Tell me about it." Dillon replied, looking at his sick shadow. "Some help Mario became… and Sheila's totally out again." Indeed, their adventurer was snoring away.

Chris flicked his fingers, sparking a small flame. "And the place is chi-blocked. Sigh… waking up early to skip school, just for this. The heck are we supposed to do now?"

_"That's no reason to feel so dead."_ A strange voice echoed.

"Look!" Haylee noticed the short, shadowed person in the hole above the cave shaft. He dropped and landed on his dark brown boots, head slanted so they saw only the top of his reddish-black cowboy hat. He shot his head up- "Boo!"

_AIIIIEEEEEE!_ They winced at Kirie's silent scream. It was a skeleton boy with glowing red pupils and a ragged red bandanna, and huge boney claws.

"Hahahahahaha!" he laughed calmly. "That never gets old."

They exchanged frightened glances. "Who…Who are you?" asked Aurora.

"My name is Django. Django de los Muertos. That's, 'of the Dead' if you are of the English tongue." He paced about the cave. "You may have overheard my grandmother speaking with the pipsqueak a half-hour ago. The thing is, I've been spyin' you since you came to town. Friends of those Brotherhood guys, are we?" He folded his arms.

"You know them?"

"My grandma is the boss of all the baddies in this city. Those weirdoes showed up last year and started makin' this place home too, and that little bean shrimp's been talkin' her into joining them. And do I get a say? _No_, because this is a matter of _grown-ups_."

"So what's your point?" Chris asked.

"My point is if grandma joins those freaks, we won't be the top dogs anymore, just sharing it with that… _shrimp_. So if _I_ don't get to show him the door, I might as well just… find something better. And then _you_ came."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Simple." Django's boney teeth smirked. "I wanna join your group."

"You mean… a Kids Next Door?" Dillon asked.

"Yes! I mean, a bunch of kids just running around with _no_ adult supervision, going into lawless towns and beating the crap out of everyone! You kids have the LIFE! _AND I WANT IN."_ His dark eyes narrowed.

"Uhhhh hate to break it to you, but someone else is already joining, so we just don't have room to accommodate a, creepy skeleton-"

Django shot up to Artie's whimpering face, teeth gritted. "…Now listen." He stepped away. "I happen to know a few things about what the Brotherhood is planning. This Mystic Guitar," Django grabbed a reddish-black guitar off his back, "allows me to command the dead at will, and grants me dark powers of the Underworld. I'm your only chance of getting out of this dump, but ONLY if I can join your crew!"

"The Kids Next Door is a group that fights evil adults and protects kids from tyranny!" Aurora stated. "Why would YOU want anything to do with-"

"Fighting adults, going against their laws, that's fine with me. And I want to destroy these Brotherhood guys before they steal my city. But I can only do so with YOUR help."

The kids thought long and hard. This kid didn't really have the right light as a KND operative… plus he was dead. But they had to get out of here… and he did have info. "To be fair, that shrimp guy _is_ our great-grandfather." Haruka noted. "So I guess we owe it to you…"

"Sigh, okay, Django." Aurora stood up and approached him. "You got a deal for now." And the two shook hands.

**_Django de los Muertos_**** joined your party! With his Mystic Guitar, the Dark Arts are his to command!**

"Excellent!" Django grinned. "LET 'ER RIP!" He whipped out his guitar and strummed, blowing a passage into the wall. "Just this way!" He eagerly ran in first as they followed, Mason and Chris carrying Sheila. Inside was a much larger cave with a long, skeleton train. "Behold my grandma's secret Ghost Train. Can go anywhere, anytime. Er, except day. Luckily, we'll be traveling underground, we'll be long out of the city before they even realize."

"Wait, someone else was taken!" Dillon shouted. "Our friend, Midna!"

"Yes, I know. You won't be rescuing her so easily, they have her guarded tight. Just stick with me and I promise we'll save her later."

"And _now_ he's makin' promises. Alright, let's go."

The kids boarded the eerie train of blue flames as its front-most face unleashed a deafening screech. The vessel was soon rolling down the tunnels and out of the city.

**Glacia; Arendelle Mountains**

"Whoa… the blizzard stopped!" Lola said with surprise.

"Unbelievable." George gaped, still holding Miyuki. "The sky was packed with clouds, but now it's like it never even happened. What in the world could've stopped it?"

"Well, whatever it was, I feel the spiritual energy stronger than ever now." MaKayla replied. "And the singing… it's coming from there!" She pointed to the center, tallest mountain of this range. Beneath the aurora borealis that had appeared lay a sparkling castle of ice, and an emotional echo shouting from it. _"Let it gooooo, let it go! And I'll rise like the brink of daaaawn! HERE I stand… and HERE I STAAAY! Let the-…"_

"Wonder what her deal is." Terry remarked.

"I dunno, but at least there's civilization. Let's go up and see if she's seen Suki." George decided as he marched forward.

When his friends were beginning to follow, a growling hit MaKayla's ears as she stopped and searched around. "Kay-Kay, what's wrong?" Lola asked.

A skull-faced monster with shadowy black skin, gaping chest hole, and on all fours like an ape glared at her ravenously. "You all, get back."

"What?" Terry asked.

"Get back!" She leapt forward and began swiftly kicking and punching the beast, performing agile flips with her flexible body and evading its claws.

It was clear to them MaKayla had lost it. The cold cold air was so unbearable to her, she was attacking it. "Well uh, our first stop at GKND is officially the hospital wing." Terry knew.

"MaKayla, yooou… are you okay?" asked George.

"Hnnn!" Somehow, MaKayla had remained in midair with her legs spread out, as if on a horse, and was grabbing the air around its "neck". "Lola, quick! Throw a Spank Hand!"

"Uhhh… huh?"

She was struggling to keep her grip. "Q-Quick! Throw a Spank Hand! Right where my arms are!"

"Uhh… okay." Lola stretched her hands behind her and charged dark-pink energy as energy hands grew. She thrusted forward and flew the hands, MaKayla leaping just when they struck the spot.

The timebender landed beside her friends. "Sigh. Nice work, Lol."

"'kay, but, whaddid I do?"

"That was a Hollow. My mom told me about 'em and it matched the description. I wonder what it's doing here."

"I wonder, what the heck you're talking about." stated Terry.

"Right, you guys can't see them. Just don't worry about it, let's find Suki and I'll keep an eye out for 'em." The three exchanged curious glances as Kayla walked ahead. "And I don't think that was the only one… we better watch out." (Play "Shiver Mountain" from _Paper Mario_.)

_Stage 17: Arendelle Ruins_

_Mission: Get to the mountaintop castle._

Under the starry indigo sky that was just created, Arendelle looked far more beautiful. Their eyes directed up the sparkling snowy mountain, to the even more glamorous glittering castle up top. There shouldn't be any getting lost with that great blue borealis floating over the castle, and the sounds of the Ice Queen's distant voice. To get there, Sector IC first had to journey down a very steep slope, which became difficult for George when carrying Miyuki's body. White Wolfos leapt out from the snows for their prey, Lola throwing Spank Hands around to send them falling down the mountain while Terry also blinded them with Shadow Breath. They reached the mountain's bottom, but a chasm separated them and the following one. They split up as MaKayla and Lola followed a left path, crossing a bridge through a large icy stalagmite that brought them to a wide, slippery field where Chilfos were playing hockey using Mini-Freezards.

The girls nodded to each other and grabbed two spare hockey-sticks, skiing out as MaKayla stole the Freezard from two Chilfos. Angered, the monsters chased her, but MaKayla hit the puck over to Lola, who skied along the edge and kept balance as the path curved right. Two Chilfos were coming at her from ahead, but seeing MaKayla behind them, Lola sent the puck with a forceful hit past the Chilfos like a bullet, while the timebender slowed it down to catch. Four more Chilfos guarded the Big Freezard ahead, so with a mighty swing, and a Fast-Forward, the puck zipped to the statue and shattered him. This allowed part of the wall behind to open, so Kayla slid in with Lola joining, the latter becoming a bat to flap up the following shaft. After evading native Ice Keese, she got to a platform and pulled an ice-lever, causing half a bridge of icy planks to fall in place to the middle mountain.

Meanwhile, George and Terry (and I guess Miyuki) took the right path, going inside of a dark cave that got blacker as they climbed down. George alit his hands with Time Chi to see, but Terry panickingly indicated the flock of Ice Keese asleep on the ceiling. The two carefully crossed a slippery, narrow ice bridge with several holes, and Terry flinched whenever an icicle fell down and smashed part of the path. They reached a platform where a gang of Ice Chuchu ambushed them, George hurriedly freezing the monsters before they made too much noise. Afterwards, they pushed them down the bottomless chasm, then focused their sights on the group of ice-blocks, and the large pool of frosty water that protected an ice-lever.

The two had to slide an ice-block across a bridge and navigate it around the rocks without sliding it in the chasm. They reached a round platform with more stop-rocks and navigated it around so the block was in position to slide across a very narrow bridge its width. From there, they pushed it into the pool and created a frozen path as it melted, but while it couldn't reach the lever, Terry could get close enough to Shadow Glide. He flipped the lever and heard quakes, resulting in the swarm of Keese waking up. Terry freaked and hurriedly glided back to the ice path, and George plopped Miyuki down, thrusted his arms up, and Stopped a bunch of Keese. They kept this up as they made their way out of the cavern.

The team reunited at the sparkling ice-bridge that led to a cave at the base of this new mountain. It was very large and hollow inside, and the glittering blue ice provided the light. No creatures were lurking, except in MaKayla's eyes, dozens of Hollows were visible. "I'll take care of 'em." she offered, much to the confusion of her team. Several Hollows blasted dark beams at her, but MaKayla leapt, kicked off a few of their heads, and shot Chrono Beams to scatter their dark bodies. A Hollow grabbed her by the leg, bashed her against the ground, then tossed her several meters, and when another performed a mighty leap, she slowed it down and escaped. She leapt to and kicked off another one, then flipped to another to grab around its head as it tried to charge a beam. She forced it to barf a beam at several other Hollows, then flipped off this one to shoot a Chrono Beam at it.

"You put up a brilliant show, Sis." George smiled sarcastically, once Kayla finished her acrobatics. A floating ice staircase floated over them 2 stories above, but no way to it. However, there were four switches in a far corner which each member could press, making a group of ice platforms rise up to the stairs' base. But when they stepped off, it sunk back down. Having an idea, Kayla had them all get on a switch while she activated a Time Recordance, then ran to the sinking platforms to throw a Time Brake, slowing it down as it was already fairly low. But restarting, she stayed to hold down her switch while her Time Clone ran to slow down the platforms, so the team could run off and hop to the stairway when they sank slower.

Ice Chuchu dropped onto the wide stairs, but Lola shot Spank Hands at them as the team progressed up without delay. The stairs led them outside the cave to a walkway on the side of the mountain. A large gap separated them and the continuing path, but Terry could Veil into the wall and slither to the foothold, pressing a switch to make a platform float over, allow his team on, then step off so the platform could bring them back. The path ended once again and the next one was too high to reach, with only dead platforms attached to chains that looked like they were meant to whirl like Ferris wheels. A chain-switch dangled above the middle of the platforms, so Lola became a bat and flapped up, grabbed it in her teeth, and changed back as her weight pulled it down. The platforms whirled to life and began their endless loops, Lola keeping the switch pulled so her team could get up, afterwards getting to the path as a bat while the platforms stopped again.

"Anyone else feel weird about carryin' our friend's dead body around?" Lola asked, noting Miyuki's body in George's arms.

"She feels like a sack of potatoes." George mentioned. "Like some wizard just Avada Kedavra'd her on the spot."

The walkway brought them to a wider foothold where there were again no monsters, except for the Hollow Chuchu MaKayla could clearly see, little black blobs with skull masks. Confusing her friends once more with her madness, she rolled forward and started Chrono-blasting them all, 'til they were all just black puddles of glop. The only way to go was across a trio of thin ice rails, lined as though a cart were supposed to be on them. "Guess we have to grind across." MaKayla thought.

"They look kinda slippery." Terry observed.

"Well, check 'em out then." George nudged.

"Ugh." So very worriedly, and with much focus, Terry moved his right foot over the rails and stepped on, then very carefully moved his left onto it. "WAH-WAH-WAH-WAAAAH!" Indeed it was too slippery, and in a split second, slipped horizontally, bashed his head on the rail, then went falling down the chasm where a stalagmite pierced him right through the chest, and he hung dead, the stalagmite's point red with blood.

"OH MY GOD, TERRY! !" MaKayla almost lost her breath at the sight.

"B-Bro!" Tears were quickly welling in Lola's eyes. "GEORGE, YOU KILLED HIM! !"

"H-Hold on!" George aimed his hands down, focused energy, and Rewinded Terry as he flew back onto the rails, to their foothold.

"Ugh." Terry annoyedly complied to George's request and prepared to step on.

"No!" George yanked him back. "Uhhh better safe than sorry."

And then something very strange happened. Before their eyes (except Terry's), black puddles of goo appeared, and reformed into Hollow Chuchu. "Whoa, where did THOSE come from?" Lola questioned.

"You can see them now?" Kayla asked.

"See what?" Terry followed.

"N-Never mind, just hold 'em back!" So the other three began to fight the Hollows off, but still had no idea how to get across the rails.

**With Suki**

At this time, Jack Frost had guided Suki to a dead-end wall, which went up at least 5 stories. "Suki… you know what to do."

The child nodded, throwing her arms upward as a sparkly ice ladder stretched to the top. Jack glided to the top while Suki happily danced up its bars. They had an excellent view of the mountain range, and the glittering castle that sat miles above them. Suki slid down a left path that sloped down a little and curved right, stopping at a trio of ice rails. Feeling a sense of joy and freedom, Suki glided across the rails on her bare feet, attaining perfect balance as the chilly wind blew past her. "WHEEEE!" cheered Suki, zipping down a slope and up another, all the while feeling her body numbing. But she looked down and saw a lower cliff, where five familiar people (3 at least) were battling black blobs. "Hey, fwieeeeends!"

MaKayla looked up. "Hey, it's Suki! Can you give us a hand? ?"

"I'll give you this!" Shooting double ice-beams down, she created a minecart at the base of their rails.

Kayla hopped in first, "Guys, let's go!" The others hurriedly got in (George throwing Miyuki's body upside-down) and began zooming 'cross the rails on their frosty cart. It curved right as it flew around a mountain, the kids panickingly trying to list it right as it threatened to fly off the left, then the track became straight as it flew down a slope, up another, and off a dead end as it quaked forcefully on the next, lower track, Suki sliding under them on her own rail. The team was coming to a very huge, unjumpable gap, screaming as they flew off the rails, but Suki grinded near them as she froze some rails for them to land on, connecting with the following path. It was about to fly off another dead end, but Suki froze a track that led up vertically, the cart still making it up and onto a higher track.

From there, the cart flew down a slope, off the track, and shattered against the wall over a safe foothold on a new mountain. They Wall Jumped two close walls onto a higher path, which they followed to a zipline that led to another mountain. MaKayla grabbed it first and flew to the distant, low foothold, then had to Rewind the line several times for her friends to take turns (it was extra hard for George holding the hook with one hand and Miyuki's body in the other). The best part was they had to do this again for another zipline, taking land on a much wider field under some mountains. The three friends stared up with widened eyes, while Terry questioned such expressions. "Uhhhh you guys all right?"

But towering around the field like huge trees were Menos Grande, pitch-black Hollows that almost rivaled the shape and structure of the mountains, with skull masks with pointed noses. "Let's go." George told them, trying not to show fear as they hurried across the field. There still wasn't anywhere to go, but a cave was stationed high up on a wall beside a Menos. The team Wall Jumped between the wall and the Menos, but Terry merely slithered up with Shadow Veil, since he couldn't touch them. Inside this cave, four tall icicles hung from the ceiling before dropping a few milliseconds apart. A stairway was there, but ended too low to reach the path above. George and Kayla Rewinded the icicles and, seeing they looked like a staircase as they fell, kept the icicles slowed so they can hop up; but Kayla had to make a few Time Clones to do this successfully.

They found the cave's exit was at level with the Menos' heads, which permitted them to hop across like platforms. They made it to a stairway that led up around a mountain, to a platform with another zipline. They took turns and slid down to the base of the castle's mountain, a very steep stairway all they needed to trek to reach there.

Meanwhile, after reaching the end of her rail track, Suki landed at the base of another mountain and entered a cave. It was very wide and sparkly inside, and a pack of White Wolfos attacked her while she fought back with giant ice-newspapers. There was no way to get onto the higher platforms, so Suki created a snowcannon and hopped in, blasting straight up. She crashed headfirst on the nearest ledge and got buried in snow, shaking it off like a puppy. The next high ledge was too far, so Suki created an ice stairway to skip up. Ice Keese were flapping down to attack her, but still easy to fight back with quick snowballs. She skipped up another already-created stairway that was guarded by a Freezard up top, but when it blasted its Ice Breath, Suki blocked and mended it into a huge iceball, then crushed him with it.

Suki came to a rectangle ice door that was locked by a keyhole, so all she had to do was create an Ice Key and unlock it. She exited to a small, empty ledge, facing up at a tall, distant platform. She created an ice seesaw, then grabbed the large ball she used to crush the Freezard, stood on the low end of the seesaw, and smashed the high end with the ball, "WHEEEEE!" flying herself up to the platform. From there, she jumped onto a black platform that began swaying, and looking over its front, she saw it was a Hollow. Smiling innocently, she created a giant ice feather, using it to tickle its little nose. _"Aaa-aaa-AACHOOO."_ Jumping in front of its nose, she was blown far over the chasm.

She landed on a foothold at the base of a new mountain, pine trees growing here, as she gazed up the incredibly tall mountain the borealis hung over. Focusing her Ice Chi precisely, a spiral of ice rails appeared around and around the mountain, and Suki hopped on as she began gliding to the top. Several Hollows were trying to climb up the mountain, but Suki took down every one she could. Nothing would stop them from reaching the castle, and nothing would stop Jack from talking to this girl. She doesn't know why, but if Jack wanted to speak to her, she would help him all the way. And once they finally landed before the castle gates, that time would come now. (End song.)

"LET IT gooooo, LET IT GOOOO, can't turn back aaaanymoooore!" the Ice Queen sang atop her balcony. "Let it goooo ("Elsa.") LET IT GOOOO ("Elsa!") that perfect girl's no moooooore!"

"ELSA!"

The queen gasped, and for the first time in 300 years, stopped singing. "Hey!" Jack waved at her from the courtyard, sporting a casual grin.

"Jack…" The queen calmly floated down to him and Suki. "Y-You're alive… who's-"

"Heeheeheehee!" Suki showed her snow-white teeth. "I'm his frieeeeend. Go on, Jackie, ask her out!"

"Heheh, she helped me get up here." Jack blushed. "I…I've been wanting to talk to you for ages."

"Oh…" Elsa frowned guiltily, "You did?"

"Yeah… I wanted to tell you… you don't have to feel upset anymore. Everyone we knew and loved, they're all in a better place now. Including your sister." They looked at the frozen statue of Anna. Noticing her as well, Suki wore a curious face.

"Ooooooo! Who's sheee?" Suki slid over to her. "Awwww. She's pretty! But why's she so saaaaad?"

"Huff, Suki!" They turned to the front gates, seeing MaKayla and Sector IC nearly out of breath as they made it up the stairs. "W-We found you!" Kayla gasped, George plopping Miyuki on the ground. "How's it been?"

"Fwieeeends, fwieeeends, FWIEEEEENDS!" She danced in place. "You made it! This is Jackie, and his GIRLFRIEEEEND!"

"I only see Ghost Girl." Terry said.

Elsa shook back to attention, "Look, Jack, I appreciate the sentiment, but I got over this ages ago!" she told him with a sure smile. "Anna's gone, my kingdom's gone, and I went with it, there's nothing I can do about that now. But I've been feeling really good ever since! I'm finally free of all my worries, and I can finally let my icebending blow free, too."

"You know as well as I do that's not true." They all looked up, when Rukia and Sector SOUL glided down. "For 300 years, your soul has been tormented by your guilt. You cannot pass on…"

"Hey, Miyuki!" George beamed.

"Huh? Where?" Terry searched around. "I only see those three creeps. Wait, you're Jack Skellington!"

"Hello, children!" Jack S. beamed.

"Creeps?" Coraline and Norman glared.

"Listen, I told them all what happened with you," explained Jack to Elsa, "and the reason you're still here is because you _haven't_ let it go. But only because you've been alone for 300 years and never had anyone to share your feelings with. But we're all here now, Elsa." He took her hands. "And we're going to help you get through this."

Elsa's blue eyes met Jack's, and both knew what the other were thinking. Jack could feel that guilt in her soul, the guilt that's been growing and growing for over 3 centuries. And Elsa felt that trust in Jack's eyes, the trust that only a real friend would possess. It was time to open her heart to him.

_"How sentimental."_ A dark voice spoke.

Everywhere, the Hollows were appearing, snarling with hunger at all the fresh, juicy souls. And four Hollows unlike the others, humanoid in dark, decorative cloaks, surrounded them. "…What's goin' on?" Terry asked, still having no idea what was happening.

MaKayla gaped when one Hollow raised a magic wand, psychotic eyes set on the boy. "TERRY, WATCH OUT!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" A blinding green light flew from the wand and struck Kayla as she pushed Terry away, and she flipped over dead.

"KAYLA! !" Terry screamed with tears in his eyes. George hurriedly used his bending to Rewind Kayla back to life, but the very sight made everything clear to Terry. "…Where did all THOSE things come from? ?"

"Terry, these're all Hollows." Kayla recapped. "They're dark spirits that feed off of other souls, and you can only see them by witnessing death. Same for normal spirits, too."

"Well, aren't you a _smart_ little girl?" Bellatrix swayed. "You deserve an **A**! ! !"

"Man, you guys are totally whack." Lola said. "But your costumes are awesome, where can I get me some of those?"

"Only vermin like you would enjoy garb such as _these_." Frollo replied grimly. "Those who follow the ways of the Devil." His blue embers flared. "And all who wear it, deserve nothing but death!"

"You will have that glory before long." They turned as one more Hollow marched into the front gates. "It's been a while… Elsa. And you too, Jack. Those 300 years seemed to just fly by. But would've been so much better if they didn't exist. All of that time wasted. But at least it's led us to something new…"

"I… Do I _know_ you?" Jack asked with a tone of familiarity.

"You know as well as I do how it feels to lose that which belongs to you. You know how it feels to be so happy, and in the blink of an eye, it's all ripped away from you. You know… how to _pine_ over something, for ages and ages… and _never_ let go."

And his mask unraveled, revealing that once-handsome face underneath, and those soulless green eyes. Jack knew him all too well. "Hans… you're alive?"

"Of course I'm not, are you blind? I've become one of them, these… _creatures_."

"But…But what're you doing _here_?"

"Ever since I arrived at Arendelle, I have been planning to marry Anna, _kill_ Elsa, and seize the throne through marriage. I commissioned the scum from the Chilly Depths to invade the coronation while _I_ fought them off like a hero, but Elsa would be slain in the confusion. Once I had become King, I would allow those vermin a piece of land and place in our kingdom, as a sign of 'peace' and good faith. But I have drastically underestimated Elsa's icebending. Not only I, but ALL of Arendelle was destroyed. And my soul could go nowhere near Elsa without her supernatural snow freezing even me."

"You mean… _my sister died because of you?"_ Jack spoke with rising anger.

"I intended no one to get hurt but Elsa. And maybe a few guards to make it convincing. I was so close, but at that moment, ended up so far. That very idea, that the throne was taken from me, made me so angry. My soul could never rest in peace… for so long, I had desperately continued to crave the throne that was now empty. I became so angry… until I ended up a shadow of my former self."

"But how are you still able to speak?" Rukia asked. "Most Hollows I've seen don't possess your humanoid forms. …"

"That's where I exceeded. As much as the creatures wanted to feed off my sorrow, I kept resisting and resisting their pull. Eventually I had become a more advanced form of Hollow. I had become… Arrancar. And I and my associates wasted the last 300 years, collecting hundreds of Hollows. With our combined strength, we would one day march into the storm and take Arendelle's throne. But thanks to your little friend, we will waste no more time."

"But why would you still want Arendelle's throne? !" Jack demanded. "The kingdom's destroyed, there's nothing left!"

"I just believed I needed a more comfortable abode than those dingy old caves. Once I have claimed my throne, I planned to expand my empire. Seeking the Hearts of all Worlds and destroying them, until darkness engulfs the whole universe. Forever extending my army, as I became the King of all Souls. Of course… a simple castle isn't all I wanted. What I truly came here for… WAS ELSA."

"AAAAAHH!" No faster had Hans thrust his sword through Elsa's chest.

"ELSA!" screamed Jack.

"For ages, and AGES, the death of Anna has tormented her. That raging, ENDLESS storm that came from her soul, sealing this mountain. She resisted transforming into a Hollow this long, but NO MORE. For the first time in forever… she will know true sorrow, AS HER HEART IS HOLLOWED." (Play "The Encounter" from _Kingdom Hearts 2_!)

"AAAAAHHHH." Dark clouds shrouded the starry sky as Elsa's green aura turned a blackish-purple. Her ice-blue eyes turned yellow and soulless, and her teeth sharp as a boney mask appeared over her face. A great column of darkness burst from her form, turning the whole area black. When it vanished, Elsa was nothing more than a tremendous winged demon, an endless black vortex in her mouth, bladed bone-like ice wings, and a great wide purple and black dress brimming with darkness. But her snow-blonde hair stayed the same, blowing in the unbearably cold wind.

Hearing a hiss behind them, Sector IC whipped around. "Miyuki!" George gasped when two Hollow Horsemen took Miyuki's lifeless body, and galloped into the air.

"We feel unique energy emitting from that body." Hans said as he hopped onto Elsa's head. "We plan to harness it for what it's worth."

Miyuki's spirit and Rukia exchanged nods before flying after them, and a SOUL member each grabbed an IC member to chase as well. "AHHHH HAHAHAHA!" Bellatrix shot a spell to send Terry and Norman falling, while the other Arrancar each chased a pair to separate directions. It was just Suki and Jack Frost left, facing up at the ice demon.

But Suki wasn't afraid of it at all. All she knew was it was now colder than ever, and light or dark, the snow would always be her friend. Closing her now-furrowed eyes, she waved her arms and whirled the snow around her. A bird of snow was formed right under her feet, raising her to the air as Jack Frost floated after. They leveled directly with the demon's face, and atop its head stood Prince Hans. But to Jack… he was no longer the man he once knew. All that was was hollow. "Jackie…" spoke Suki with her tone never more serious, "I PROMISE I'LL SAVE HER FOR YOOOOOU!"

_Boss fight: Dark Hans_

Elsa made a screech like that of a banshee, unleashing beams of ice that Suki and Jack avoided by shifting left, the 7-year-old whirling a circle of ice around her and shooting five icicles at Elsa. She winced a little bit, but screeched as icicles appeared in the air every direction, launching directly at Suki as her snowbird was quick to dodge. Suki created sharp, icy talons on her bird's feet, shooting like a comet at the monster and stabbing Elsa's face. She screeched and blew them off, but Suki hopped off her bird and slid under Elsa on an ice-path, coming back up behind the monster as Hans turned to face her. She slid at the prince as Hans lashed his blade, making Suki jump back and slide circles around him. Hans' head was suddenly frozen by Jack Frost from behind, allowing Suki to shoot up and get him. _"NEEEEEEIGH."_ The dark horse, Sitron thwarted her attempt, galloping in the air before Suki and swinging his front legs, making her lose focus as she fell. The snowbird caught her as they dodged Elsa's ice blast just in time, and Hans broke the ice cube and whipped around, missing Jack with his sword.

"AAAAAAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bellatrix Lestrange cackled the night away, flying circles as Terry hopelessly tried to hit her with a normal and shadow G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A.. The witch threw a spell that jellified his legs, Terry gritting his teeth as he tried to chase her with a Shadow Glide. _"IIIII KILLED SIRIUS BLACK, IIII KILLED SIRIUS BLACK_, AY heeheeheehee—WHOOOOA!" An Ecto Beam suddenly knocked her away.

Terry took land as strength returned to his legs, Norman appearing beside him. "She kind of has the advantage over you in a place like this."

"What'm I supposed to DIE?"

"Uhhhhh no. Here, lemme help you. I'll fly you in close and you do what you do."

"Okay." So Norman grabbed Terry onto his back and flew after the witch.

Lola threw several Spank Hands at incoming Hollows before turning to face the Arrancar, Claude Frollo. "Because of my _death_, those filthy gypsies were free to ruin my perfect world. If my fate is to live as a cursed demon, then I will rid the world of all OTHER abominations. Starting with _you_, you filthy HALF-BREED!" He threw blue flames that melted the patches of snow they hit in seconds, Lola dodging as she threw Spank Hands that Frollo slashed with his blade. He created several swordsmen out of his flames as they ran at Lola, but huge ragdolls caught them in their stuffing and seemed to dissolve them.

"You're not such a sight yourself." Coraline remarked, landing beside Lola. "Hey, whaddya say we fight him together?"

"YOU got it!" Lola said confidently.

MaKayla was facing the white-haired woman in the black robe. "I recognize you." Kayla said with a slight stutter. "You're Hama. The…"

"Yes." The woman smirked grimly. "But I'm more accustomed to my own." She sliced her own arm as a stream of blood came out, which she formed into a long sickle.

"I-I-I-, Is that blood?" Kayla stuttered as her pupils shrank.

"Have a closer LOOK." She lashed the sickle as Kayla barely dodged, scraping her cheek as she froze with fear.

But before it came at her again, Jack Skellington whipped her away with his Soul Whip, a green flubbery substance. "It's not a fair match when your fear is used against you." he said. "Let me take care of this. Merry CHRISTMAS!" He threw a storm of present bombs at Hama.

That means George was left to face the only Arrancar remaining: none other than Legion. "Your sister is knowing Fear." he said. "I will _also_ teach you Fear. And then there'll be _oblivion_."

"We'll see about that." George smirked as he began dodging Legion's syringes.

Elsa flew after Suki and snapped her fangs, the child flying below on her snowbird and shooting icicles up her dress. Elsa flipped and tried to snap her upside-down, but Suki flew away as Jack F. came instead, shoving an icicle down her nose. She flipped back up and tried to shake it out, Hans hanging on as Suki came for him again. She waved a storm of quick snow beams that Hans blocked with his sword, the snowbird just zipping past his right when she came. The bird flew directly skyward before coming down at Hans like a missile, Suki forming an icicle on its beak. Hans protected himself in a dark bubble when the bird made impact, unable to get through before Hans swung his sword and sent them back.

"This guy is too haaaaaaard!" Suki moaned.

Jack Frost flew beside her, "Suki, remember that thing we did on Christmas? I can enter your body and give you some of my power, but only for 1 minute."

"Ohhhhh! That always made me feel _coooooold_."

"Your point?" he quirked.

"Let's DO IT!" Jack shot into Suki's body as a white aura appeared around her. Her temperature dropped extremely low, feeling absolutely cold, she would be unbreakable. She left her bird and flew directly at Hans, throwing rapid ice beams that countered Hans' dark balls. She zipped over him like a gust of wind, then was coming back like an icy rocket. Spinning into an icicle drill, she pierced Elsa's chest and rendered her immobile, while Hans simply flew himself. Suki recomposed and glared at the prince, zipping at him like a bullet and swinging her legs which had formed icicles, clashing with his sword. Both her legs crossed like an 'X' as they pushed against Hans' sword, but she began to falter when her aura flashed.

_"Suki, I need to get out now."_

"But I wanna hit 'iiiiim!" Suki arduously withstood the pain, continuing to push on Hans' sword before she flipped and slashed him across the mask, followed by a rapid drilling through his chest before she kicked off and back on her bird, Jack flying out. Hans gripped his chest and angrily flew Elsa after them, trying to snatch her in her teeth. Suki formed an icicle and shoved it in Elsa's mouth to hold it open, then flew behind to throw icicles at Hans, who defended as Jack Frost proceeded to attack him from behind.

The Hollow Horsemen were still galloping away with Miyuki's body as she and Rukia gave chase. The horsemen shot blue fire arrows at the girls while Rukia slashed ice beams at them. The left one took the body as they ran separate ways, but when both girls closed in on him, he chucked the body all the way to his comrade, then shot a dark ghost-net to catch the spirits inside.

Norman and Terry were still on the chase for Bellatrix, who left a trail of Shadow Fog as she flew, from which emerged a swarm of Black Boes. Norman sent skull ghosts to swallow the Boes as they flew above, getting over Bellatrix as Terry dropped down to push her to the ground, the two rolling across the snow before Bellatrix flipped back on her feet. "Imperio!"

"Waaah!" Terry flew up to the air and began doing the chicken dance before twirling like a ballerina. "WHOA!" He was thrown at Norman, who turned intangible and flew at Bellatrix throwing Ecto Beams, but the witch dodged and- "Reducto!" blasted a spell that blew Norman to smithereens.

"NORMAN!" Terry screamed.

"Relax, he's a ghost, his particles will reform." Coraline yelled. "But it'll take awhile."

"Now just what to do with YOU!" Bellatrix yelled, casting a Cruciatus Curse on Terry.

Frollo created winged demons out of his blue flames that soared at Coraline, attempting burn her yarn and fabric, but Lola defended her with as much charged Spank Hands she could muster. "Thank you!" Coraline told her, sewing giant ragdolls as fast as she could. A two-legged, wobbling creature was created from her fabric, running at Frollo and swinging its extendable head to knock him down, followed by a swarm of giant stitch-needle spiders that jumped and latched all over him. "NNNN!" He blew them off with a burst of flame, watching as Lola flew over him in her bat form and reverted to normal to drop, grab around, and bite his neck, but the man furiously threw her off as Coraline trapped him in a giant ragdoll, which Frollo set flame to and slashed his blade across her waist, leaving her shaking on the ground.

Jack S.'s Soul Whip clashed fast as lightning with Hama's Blood Whip, and during which a piece of his flubber sliced off and covered Jack's eyes, allowing Hama to slice his boney body diagonally in half, his head flying off as well. "Nn- u-u-u-u-u-u-…" MaKayla couldn't bring herself to stand. The sight of his severed body was too much.

"I remember those days when such liquids were so important." Hama smiled with malice. "You will soon see what a burden they are." She lunged forward aiming to slice her in two.

Jack Skellington's lower body grabbed her in his legs while his upper jumped up to grip her head. "No burden for me!" he proclaimed with a bright smile. "But that isn't very nice!" The body-parts forced her around so Jack's head could jump up and start nomming her face.

Jack Frost fused with Suki again as they flew at Hans whipping fast, bashing Elsa's head with a giant ice cube at the end of Jack's cane so she fell dizzy, Hans flying on his own. Suki swung the giant cube, only for Hans to break it with his sword as Suki swiftly dodged his swings. She unleashed a powerful ray of ice from both hands that froze Hans' sword solid when he defended, then conjured a snowball her size which she blasted at him. _"Suki, remember your lessons. Use Ice-Maker Style."_

Nodding seriously, Suki whirled her arms and created two long hammers, swinging them together and smashing Hans like a pancake. She followed this with a snow-spatula, catching him on, flipping him overhead, then batting him to a distant mountain. _"RRRRRRAAAAAHH-rrrrr."_ Suki turned and avoided when Elsa gnashed at her, but she was beginning to flash again as Jack flew out, letting Suki land on the snowbird.

"We've gotta get Elsa back to normal." Jack told her.

"My sister-chan and her FRIENDS could probably do iiiit."

"Yeah, but they're a little preoccupied. Let's worry about defeating Hans." The prince was soaring right back at them on Sitron, his sword unfrozen as he jumped in attempt to slice Suki, whose snowbird flew back. Suki turned the bird's head into a cannon that began blasting snowballs, which Hans easily sliced, but Suki had emerged a great column of ice from below to capture Hans, seemingly freezing him. She flinched and fell back when Elsa almost gnashed her, then began to break Hans free as he got onto her head. Hans and Elsa charged powerful energy into their sword and mouth respectively, unleashing a massive ray of darkness and ice that chased them around as they flew.

Legion was still tossing syringes at George, who kept his wry smirk as he dodged. "Don't you got anything else?"

"No. But my CLONE does."

And he was taken by surprise when a second Legion appeared from behind and stuck him in the arm with a syringe. George fell to his knees, the world blurring around him, as he tried to view around at all his friends. Frollo stabbed Lola through the heart, Terry fell over dead when Bellatrix struck him with a Killing Curse. Miyuki and Rukia were chewed and swallowed by the Hollows, and finally, MaKayla's head was sliced clean off her body, rolling across the ground to George as he stared at her dead, open eyes.

"Hmhmhm…" George laughed coldly. "You'd think this would scare me… if not for the fact… I saw past this battle using my Future Sight! !" So throwing his arms upward, he froze Legion in time, escaping his reality and swiping his syringe to stick it in him. Legion unfroze as he wobbled around, trying to comprehend where he was.

_"I-sa love spendin' time wit' you, Legy-Weeegyyyy." Legion's former headless body was in bed with Jar Jar Blinks._

Legion curled up on the snowy ground, unable to recover from his shocked, shuddering state. With that, George directed his attention to Terry, writhing in pain from the Torture Curse, and aimed his hand at Norman's scattered ectoplasm to fast-forward, putting him back together. Once regaining himself, he jumped back to attention. "Don't worry, Terry!" He shot over and rescued him, flying him across the air. "Okay, go for it!" He flew back at Bellatrix and dropped Terry, the witch leaping far away before whipping around to face him. "WAH!" She ended up glued to the ground via Terry's stretched shadow.

"Shadow Possession a success!" Terry smirked. "Time to dance yourself, banshee." He started shaking his hip like a slithery snake, Bellatrix mimicking.

"Riddikulus!" She blasted a spell that dispelled Terry to smoke, but the real Terry emerged in front of her and blew Shadow Breath all over her face. She frantically waved her hand, turned, and tried to shake it off, but by the time she did, she was staring at a gigantic Norman head. The world flashed incredibly blurry as the giant head spun, turning yellow and widening his mouth, exposing an endless dimension that bursted horribly blinding flashes at Bellatrix's eyes.

The woman compressed and froze to solid stone, falling to her back like a toppled statue. Norman shrunk back to normal and looked at Terry with a smirk and wink.

Lola hurriedly threw Spank Hands at Frollo, who kept defending with his blue flames as he erupted a wall of them, sending it at Lola who became a bat and flapped overhead, barely avoiding. But Frollo had shot up and struck her with his blade, Lola flashing back to normal as she bounced to and fell over a cliff, grabbing the frosty ledge tight. But she stared with terror and hopelessness as Frollo slowly stepped forward, raising his blade high as his wrinkled face, lit by his ghostly blue flames, seemed darker and more demonic than ever. "And He shall smite the wicked, and _plunge_ them into the depths of Hell… FOREVER."

A stitch-needle attached to a yarn string flew over and knocked the sword out of his hand, the man angrily looking to his attacker. "Haven't you caught up with the times, yet?" Frollo gaped at the sight of Coraline: she was back on her feet, but her legs, arms, and neck were as wobbly as spaghetti, the blue flames destroying what remained of her skin and clothing. Underneath was a hideous ragdoll with skinny metal parts, which were needles, and few standing strands of black yarn served as her hair, and her googly eyes were all there were of her face. "Hey, hold him off a while longer, will you?"

Frollo turned back to Lola, who flapped back above in her bat form and reverted back as she smashed Frollo with a Spank-Smash. Coraline spread her body apart as her needles extracted, beginning to quickly sew together a spider-web-like vortex. Lola leapt and spun in the air as she dealt rapid kicks on Frollo's face with her ballet flats, but he lashed his blade again and created strings of flame-arrows to shoot at the vampire. He sent tall flame columns that made Lola jump around, too confused to react when Frollo stabbed his blade in the ground, sent lines of blue around her, and burned a huge flaming hole miles into the ground, surprising her as she fell in. Lola flapped her bat wings and struggled to fly up, but the flames were steadily sucking her in as the walls were closing.

"Hrn hn hn hn hn hn hn hn." laughed Frollo with a devilish grin.

"Yeah, laugh it all up." He turned to Coraline, who had finished sewing: she had created a spiraling white vortex with spider-web outlines, and inside was an endless dimension. "I would look forward if I were you."

Frollo faced back at the flaming chasm as darkness sprouted from it. The world turned pitch-black as Lola emerged, with huge bat wings burning with pinkish-purple, larger venomous fangs and eyes that burned with deepest lust. "You have been very BAD, Claude Frollo, and shall feel the stinging wrath of…" The aura grew around her giant wings, and massive hands formed on their tip, "LOLA VIRGINIA BELLE STOOOOOORK!" She struck Frollo with the most deadly, life-scarring spank Frollo had the unfortunate fate to experience. His cloak shattering, he flew stunned and frozen into the spidery vortex and down the bottomless realm. His body unraveled like yarn and scattered 'til there was nothing left.

Coraline closed the portal and refigured herself, smiling as Lola returned to normal. "The first time I used that was on a girl who cheated at videogames." the vampire said. "WAAAAAY cooler than this one."

Hama furiously shook Jack S. off of her, slicing more parts of her skin and throwing a rapid storm of bloody slashes, tearing Jack's bones to pieces. But his bones transformed into flames that formed back together, having donned his Pumpkin King form. Spinning and throwing many Flames of Hell while Hama countered with a spiral of blood, and in the resulted glob of flames and blood, Jack shot through and kicked Hama in the face, knocking her down before turning back to skeleton. "I know it was traumatic for you, MaKayla, but you've got to move past this." he said to the shuddering girl. "You must fight back now to save your friends from a similar fate."

"Enough of this!" proclaimed Hama, recovering as she ripped off her cloak and flesh as her blood-made body took the form of many knives, spears, sickles and swords. "Tonight, your fluids become MINE." She flew forward, sights directly set on leaving Kayla as nothing but a puddle of blood, the girl's pupils shrinking further the closer she came.

In a single blink, MaKayla leaped, her left leg alit with blue as she sliced directly through Hama's neck. A greater gush of dark blood came spilling out of the woman's neck, until her very form melted into blood and faded away in the snow. Having done more than she expected in this fight, she fell down.

Miyuki and Rukia broke out of another energy net and kept chasing the horsemen as they chucked the former's body around like a football. Miyuki caught up the right one and destroyed it with an energy blast, but a dark smoke floated from the other one and reformed it, and the same happened when Rukia tried to destroy the other. Both girls got beside each other, "Whenever we destroy one, the other just brings it back." Miyuki said.

"Then we'll have to destroy 'em together. Get ready." Once far away, the horsemen reunited and held Miyuki's body together, running away in a straight path as the girls set their sights. "One…" the energy began charging in their close hands, "two…" they whirled their arms and- "THREE!" Two precise beams, a gray and a pale-blue, flew directly at the horsemen and destroyed them simultaneously. Miyuki's body flew and dropped on the ground. "That's how it's done!"

Suki jumped off the snowbird and surfed across the air via ice-path, while Elsa quickly began destroying it with ice blasts. "Suki, let's-" Jack was about to fuse with her again, but Hans grabbed and flew far away with him, clutching him by the neck.

"JACKIIIE!" Distracted, Elsa was able to grab Suki in her icy talon, shooting straight to the ground and slamming her hard. Still holding the injured Suki, Elsa flew over the cliff and furiously slammed her against the wall multiple times, before finally scraping her against it as she descended.

Jack desperately tried to shake Hans away, succeeding as he shot toward Suki's direction like a rocket, but Hans tackled him from above and shoved him against the ground, raising his dark sword and ready to pierce him, but Jack shifted his head and avoided.

Suki never felt more unbelievable pain. Descending into the very depths of Glacia, helpless in Elsa's talon against this rugged, frozen cliff. _There's… one way._ She already knew. _I have to… Logia. But… what if… I don't… make it? I wanna hug… Miyuki-chan… I…I want to.._ With determined eyes, Suki expanded a huge frozen heart around her, keeping Elsa back. She got outside and stood firmly on the heart, riding it back up the cliff. Elsa angrily flew after her as she skied across the snows, but Suki had emerged several snow columns from the ground and binded Elsa's wings.

She was pulled to the ground as she then looked up, seeing Miyuki stand before her in her normal body. The girl calmly stepped closer and touched a hand to Elsa's forehead. "Elsa… remember who you are. Remember what you used to be!"

And her entire life went flying in Elsa's mind. Playing with her sister, discovering her icebending, the party that celebrated the discovery of her bending, where Jack got his tongue stuck to the punch, hearing of their parents' death, the party where Elsa was made queen, seeing the hidden chamber, playing with Jack Frost, talking to Anna about Hans, the monsters' invasion, freezing Anna solid, then singing for 300 years in what used to be Arendelle.

Jack flew away from Hans as the latter blasted a darkball and knocked him down, then leapt at the spirit again to stab. But an ice blast flew and knocked him back, Jack smiling brightly as Suki surfed his way. Hans recovered, but couldn't keep up with Suki's rapid blasts, his body area frozen as Suki collided with and blew him back. Hans whistled, and Sitron came galloping forth as the prince hopped on. The horse ran across the field at great speed while Hans threw many dark spheres at Suki, who leaped and continued surfing while trying to throw icicles. Not catching up, she created massive running shoes out of ice over her feet, moving even quicker as she narrowed in on the prince.

Sitron went flying into the air, miles above Suki, so she jumped out of her shoes and sprouted glittering ice wings, keeping after him. As he shrunk into the dark, a forest of Menos Grande emerged from below, all aiming to gnash Suki, but she swiftly avoided and sliced them all with her spiked ice wings, determined to keep after Hans. She positioned her wings like a jet, while also forming an ice-rocket over her, flying at incredible speed after the prince. Breaking free of the rocket, Suki sliced Sitron in a perfect half with her ice wings, the horse dispersing into darkness.

Hans flew himself and clashed his sword against Suki's powerful wings. They locked in a draw and shoved against the other, but Hans began to falter when Suki added more power to her wings. "GRAAAH!" Suki proved to be the more powerful when Hans plummeted to the earth, just outside Arendelle Castle. He achingly helped himself to stand and glared with malice at the flying icebender, who returned the spiteful look. When Hans studied closely, Suki bore close resemblance to Anna, just like her sister with Elsa. Just outside the castle gates, Hans looked and saw Anna standing there, still frozen. If only Anna hadn't been frozen, this never would've happened. The very memory angered him terribly.

"If I'm to be struck down today, I will take Anna with me!" So brimming with dark aura, Hans lunged at Anna, ready to destroy the princess for good.

"NOOOOOO!" Suki cried with despair. (End song.)

_CHING!…_

Queen Elsa, back to her former ghostly self, whipped in Hans' path, and with a mighty swipe of her icy arm, shattered his sword, and the left half of his mask, to pieces, exposing his stunned green eye. Elsa had a new look in her eyes. Fury…rage…passion… and deep, burning love. "…No!" She fell to her knees and wrapped arms around her frozen sister, and for a moment, they coulda sworn those ghostly eyes spilled tears. "I won't… let you touch her!"

Everyone stood still and watched. Even Hans seemed taken aback by Elsa's sudden action. The only sounds were those of raging winds, and Elsa's sobs. "I never felt more… bad about anything!… than what I did. My sister… my kingdom… I kept trying to tell myself… I was dead… THEY were dead… and there was NOTHING I could do about it. It was my own loss of control… it already happened… and I NEVER stopped loving her… wishing I could join her… so WHY couldn't I move ON? ! I'm sorry I robbed you of your life, Anna… sorry I destroyed _everyone_. Is it really my punishment to stay bound to this guilt forever… don't you understand how I _feel_, Anna? ! Why won't you let me join you in that other world? How long are you going to make me suffer? _Anna_. …"

The snows were beginning to calm now. Only a gentle wind breezed. And it felt so much warmer. Along with the gorgeous light that brimmed into being.

The frozen statue of Anna glowed a blinding white, like a mini sun as Elsa backed away in shock. Her cape, dress, strawberry hair, lovely blue eyes, cute freckled face. All of her color returned into being, and all of her life. She slumped to her knees, shuddering those last ounces of cold, then looked up at her sister. "Elsa…"

"Anna…" The older couldn't believe her eyes. Now her ghostly eyes wanted to weep more than ever.

"Wh-…What is?.."

Elsa only smiled. The weight of all her passed citizens still weighed on her soul… but for the first time in forever, she felt lighter than air. "Everything is… going to be okay."

Seeing Anna alive… put a warm feeling in Hans' empty chest. …What an odd sensation. "-UUH!" The prince was immediately stabbed through the stomach by Rukia, falling to his knees.

The SOUL Leader stabbed her sword in the ground and whirled her arms. A spiral of snow circled around and around Hans and Elsa, glowing gold as it did. Starting at their feet, their ghostly bodies turned gold for 2 seconds before scattering into tiny stars. "E-Elsa…" stuttered Anna. "Wh…Where are you…"

The last of Elsa's warm, smiling face was beginning to scatter. "I enjoyed every minute with you… Anna… live… happily."

And what remained of Hans and Elsa's souls became particles of light. Flying up to the heavens, where the dark clouds had blown away, to take their place among the stars. The hilt of Hans' dark sword clanged onto the ground, as Suki picked it up with her curious young eyes.

Coraline approached Anna with a warm smile, spindling a sweater together to put over her form. "You probably have some questions. Well… I did, too."

"Suki." The child turned to the handsome white-haired teen. "I… can't thank you enough. Ever since I died, my deepest regret was that I couldn't bring Elsa to the Spirit World. If Polaris weren't looking after me, I might've ended up a Hollow, too. I'm sorry I… dragged you all into this."

"How 'bout you promise to only bug Suki when she isn't with us?" Terry inquired.

"Heheh. I'll think about it. But Suki, I… There's another reason I brought you here. I wanted to test a theory. …Come with me."

And Jack soared into the castle, Suki curiously chasing. The others of Sector IC quickly followed suit. "Watch over Anna." Rukia told her team, going to join the humans. (Play "The First Mask" from _Rayman 2_!)

Jack Frost guided Suki down a spiraling staircase to a deep underground chamber, almost nothing but a dark chasm, with a single, cylindrical platform in the center. A path was all that led up to the foothold, starting flat on their end, but turning vertical as it swirled up and around it. Jack and Suki exchanged nods as the child skied forward first, gliding around and around the spiral pathway at great speed on an icy path. She came to a perfect stop at the top, standing before a strange, stone cube with ancient writing.

Rukia instead created an icy stairway to allow Sector IC onto the platform, as Suki's vibrant eyes were wide with wonder. They watched as the seven-year-old approached the ruin, entranced by its echoing call that only she could hear. When she stood just a few feet from it, she stopped and presented Hans' sword, which brimmed blue and floated up to sink inside the ruin. The entire stone glowed blue before that light instantly flew into Suki. Everyone stared at her with wonder, glowing for 10 seconds before the light faded. Suki studied her hands and feet for anything strange, but she didn't look different. But it felt as though a part inside of her was just awakened. …And it felt great.

**Suki awakened herself as one of _SEVEN LIGHTS_! Only 5 more to go!**

Feeling the need to smile greatly, she did so and jumped joyously in place. It was then the text on the stone glowed, and it became all too clear to Suki's mind. "'Here lies our fabled Gibberish Rock, made to baffle royals for eons. To anyone who's able to translate it, congratulations, you must be the Chosen One. You are one of the ones who will open the door, and the power you possess will be of great importance in some point in time. There are 6 others like this, and in time, they will find them. Just don't keep us waiting too long. –Ichigo Kurosaki'."

"Just when you think she couldn't get any weirder." Terry remarked.

"Is that really what it says, Suki?" MaKayla asked.

"Well, yeah. Can't you READ it?"

"If it was written by little kids, then no." Terry said.

_"Ichigo…"_ spoke Rukia under her breath.

"Is something wrong, Rukia?" Jack asked.

"Um… nothing. Let's go." Everyone else went first exiting the chamber, but Rukia stayed behind and stared at the ruin. The transparent image of an orange-haired teenager with a white shirt and khaki pants seemed to sport her a smile, with slanted eyes. Rukia shook this off and zipped away. She wondered if she would see him for real… (End song.)

**Outside**

After 3 centuries of darkness and blizzards, the morning sun began to rise over the mountains of Arendelle. Sector SOUL helped IC locate the latter's crashed S.C.A.M.P.E.R., and the timebenders easily restored it to normal. "We're sorry about everything that's happened, Anna." Rukia told her.

"So… Elsa's gone, huh." Anna frowned. "And I'm all that's left of Arendelle…"

"Yes, but after all these years, your sister is free of her troubles. We will ensure her peace in the Spirit World."

"Well then… I'm glad she's finally happy." Anna smiled. "Maybe I should try to continue her legacy… I should try to revive Arendelle!"

"I shall call my father and his Nightmares to assist you!" Jack S. declared. "And perhaps you can work at his factory, until we fix up your kingdom."

"Then it's good we were around to help, too." Miyuki noted.

"What did Hans mean by, like, the 'Hearts of all Worlds'." Lola thought aloud.

"The idea is that each world possesses a 'Heart'; a core in which all of its energy is focused." Rukia explained. "Naturally a planet would need a tremendous amount of energy to support its inhabitants, and couldn't just rely on the gods forever. So when they created the worlds, they placed 'Hearts' inside of their cores, providing a continuous amount of energy. Some Hearts are evidently stronger than others, as is observed by the amount of diversity one could immediately see. And they're the most sought-after force by Heartless and Hollows, because if the Hearts are destroyed, death and darkness is imminent."

"I can't imagine this world's Heart is very strong." Lola assumed.

"Well, certain Hearts provide the energy for certain worlds. Glacia possesses a Frozen Heart, most likely. And I think, it was from that very energy, Polaris used to give Elsa's ancestors their powers. The Reapers are normally sent to stop these Hollows, but now it's become the SKND's duties to stop them, too."

"Then it'll probably be something we have to worry about." Miyuki assumed.

"Maybe it will." MaKayla agreed. "But we'll worry about that later, we can't stay. We're supposed to be rescuing a friend of ours."

"We appreciate your help, Sector IC." Rukia nodded. "May we meet each other again one day."

"Yeah. You know, uh, before we die." George smiled sheepishly.

"Yo Cora, let's play dolls sometime, wanna?" Lola perked.

"Hm hm, sure." Coraline smirked.

"So, Terry. Uhhh, videogames?" Norman queried.

"…Eh. Why not."

"See you later, you guys!" George waved as they returned to their S.C.A.M.P.E.R.. "And thanks for watching Suki and Miyuki."

"Good-BYYYYYYEE!" Suki exclaimed with joy as they took off for the clear heavens.

"Take care!" Rukia called as her team waved.

**Midway Peak**

The TV was not working right today. Monkeys…monkeys…more monkeys… this was quality programming today… much to the dislike of one, dissatisfied viewer. _"Benjamin."_ The shadowed woman said. _"Didn't I tell you to fix the satellite?"_

"I-I-I checked it this morning, Mizz, clearly there is _some_ kind of interference."

_"…Well."_ The woman held an arm out and, when the remote floated to her hand, turned off the tele. _"I guess I won't be entertaining myself tonight."_ She stood up. _"It's time to go to my meeting."_ And very slowly, she walked to the exit, the clacking of her boots echoing within the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>So 'tis our honored guest. Next time, Cheren arrives at the climax of his mission. He will meet… his target. Stay tuned.<strong>


	11. That Which Should Not Be Named

**I hope you enjoyed the Frozen adventure, 'cause things will be getting real very soon. Starting by meeting someone familiar.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Power Which Should Not Be Named: Wrath of the Head President.<em>**

**Django's Train**

Django relaxed back on his seat, feasting on a variety of grotesque food, tasty only on a skeleton's tongue, a sandwich of dead worms, rotted cooked baboon spleen, and various cooked lower body parts of animals. "You sure you guys don't want some?" he asked Sector V.

They felt like they would throw up their very intestines just watching him. "No thanks." Aurora answered, eyes weeping in hunger.

"You guys and your weak stomachs, this is luxury suite." He smirked as he slurped down caterpillar juice.

"….So uh, Django, you said you had… info on the Brotherhood?" asked Aurora, trying to ease her weeping.

Django spent the next 10 seconds chugging his juice, then released a tired, lazy sigh. "I dunno." They all collapsed in a second.

"HEY, THE ONLY REASON WE LET YOU JOIN US IS SO YOU'LL TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!" screamed Haruka. "We coulda EASILY broke outta there on our own!"

"All I know is that they're looking for these yo-yo things so they can awaken this, _creature_, and somethin' somethin' somethin', using a Firstborn to stop the Apocalypse."

"You are truly the most knowledgeable of all of us." remarked Haylee.

"Well, what Firstborn would HAVE the potential to stop the Apocalypse?" Haruka asked. "If THAT were the case, why wouldn't Arceus do anything about it?"

"I probably know one." Chris mentioned, kicked back on his seat and not facing them. "The Firstborn I know best of all: Jirachi."

"Of _course_!" Haylee smacked her forehead. "Just wish for the Apocalypse to not happen!"

"I thought his wishing powers were extinguished." Harry inquired. "Unless only Dimentia can make wishes for him, so maybe they tryin' to get 'er."

"They did use Jirachi to make that Regeneration Potion for Brain, right?" Artie asked.

"Well, assuming Dimentia still _had_ Jirachi, it feels a little too easy for something we're making a big deal over." Dillon followed.

"In all fairness, the Brotherhood was never really smart." Aurora said doubtfully. "It probably won't work."

"Look, we still have to save Midna." Dillon told Django. "Can't we turn back for her?"

"Relax, I already got some guys on that." the skeleton told them surely. "I'll beam 'em my location once they call. Oh, and they might wanna join, too."

"Okay, we're gonna have to set up a sector in Miracle City, 'cause Sector V can't take anymore members." Aurora stated. "And how do we know you aren't going to give us away?"

"'Cause I'm a skeleton with a badass guitar, there's no one else you can trust."

"Sigh, sure. Let's head back home and see if Cheren's back yet, he'll want to know all this."

"Great, I can let the boss himself know I'm coming." Django grinned casually.

"Yes, he'll definitely need his heads-up." remarked Dillon.

**Dream Realm; Hall of Doors**

Sheila jumped out of the portal to Miracle City – represented by a Spanish chef searching through a cabinet, and the portal in Waking Water to signify it was in the real world – then rushed to the next portal labeled _Land of Toads_, represented by a bunch of huge dangling branches that looked alive. Sheila dove inside for the venture. (Play "Toad Story" from _Rayman Legends_.)

_Stage 18: Land of Toads_

_Mission: Find the Chief Toad._

The scent of thousands of droplets of mist hit Sheila's nose, and her very skin steadily became cooler and wetter in this foggy, misty air. The most gigantic swamp Sheila had ever seen, with tremendous yellow-green vines, the most soggy plant ground, surrounded by sludgy green water. It was a very different air… very strange… unbearably peaceful. Every direction, Sheila's raccoon ears picked up every sound, croaks and fribbits and the buzzing of flies, the flies being snatched in whip-like tongues, the cawing of exotic birds, dozens more sounds Sheila couldn't name. Everything was in harmony in this swamp… everything at peace… and now… Sheila was at peace, too. She didn't want to walk anymore… she wanted to fall down… and sleep.

"WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT'M I SAYING?" Her outburst disturbed all the peace in the swamp. "I'M NOT SLOWING DOWN FOR ANYTHING YOU STUPID SWAMP, YOU HEAR ME? !" And so, she marched forward while Murfy blabbered away.

"Ahhh, the Land of Toads. Lot of action goin' on HERE, huh? So this is where the Chief Toad is, and he's gonna tell us where the _Firstborn_ are. Which, if you wanna heads-up-"

"Murfy?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Sheila walked up to the first huge, soggy tree and climbed a vinewall up and around to a huge branch. The branch swayed back and forth, but when it was leftward, it was beside a dangling vine which Sheila grabbed onto, climbed and swung to another, and then onto another huge branch. But her raccoon ears picked up a very faint _"He...p...m..e"_, and looking back down, through the very mist into the green water, tiny little bubbles were popping on the surface. Sheila dove back down and splashed in the liquid, her vision totally blinded by the murky sludge. She alit her fist with light for a much better view, and saw the cage full of drowning Electoons. She punched it open, and the creatures happily swam to freedom.

She made her way back onto the high branch and from there entered its tree through a hole. She jumped up a few small platforms as Piranha Plants attempted to snack her from the walls, but with a single Light Punch, they retreated into their holes. She came out another hole onto a branch above a very breezy chasm, the wind softly blowing skyward. Whirling her tail, Sheila calmly floated up with the breeze, while Hoodlums on parachutes tried to shoot her down, but one quick punch was all they needed to fall. The breeze ended at level with the top of a cliff, but behind her was another hole in the tree which she entered, and found a vine enclosing with a cage at the other end. She tried to shoot Light Spheres, but the vines whipped in the way and blocked her, and they binded her feet if she tried to go farther.

Sheila decided to head out of there to find a solution. But it seemed a few more Hoodlums were slowly descending on parachutes, making a stairway to behind the tree, so Sheila used their 'chutes like platforms and floated to the top of the vine cage. She got above where the cage was, Ground Pounded, and burst through to break it open. The vines didn't bother stopping her as she left, and proceeded to the land beyond the cliffside. It was a hot springs-like area with many round, murky pools emitting steam, the _"CROAKS"_ louder than ever as giant toads lay in place, and could easily be mistaken as yellow, puffing boulders with little black warts on their skin.

_"So in your next level, you're gonna face your first boss,"_ Murfy's voice said beyond the mist, _"and it's that cloud thing from _Yoshi's Story_, as babyish as that was. I really don't understand the tone o' this story, we have all these kid-friendly happy-fun levels, then we got Freddy's later where Sandman gets his head ripped off, this story really doesn't have a specific target audience, just any shlomo willing to read. Well, I'm not the one putting the price tag on, so who to complain."_

There were also regular green frogs with wide smiles on their faces and half-closed eyes, as if they were buddies just relaxing in a hot tub, drinking martinis. There were also fat frogs on inflatable rafts, which served as excellent bounceable platforms to propel Sheila higher. She could also splash in the hot springs to soothe her weary skin, but the frogs didn't mind. She explored the area to grab the Yellow Lums laying around before making her way up the springs, and she couldn't quite relax with a Hoodboom chucking grenades at her from the mist. How did these toads relax through that?

She finally found the small ledge where the bombs were coming from, in which the bomber chucked it through the hole of a sturdy wooden wall. While bouncing on a fat frog – the only way to get at level with the ledge, she grabbed a grenade, tossed it back through, and destroyed the Hoodlum. A red can flew out of the fence, and when Sheila touched it, a light erupted from its lid as red garb appeared on her body, with strong metal fists. "Wa-hey, you found the Strong Suit! Those fists can beat anything, so don't expect 'em to last long." explained Murfy. So using her stronger fists, Sheila broke down the fence and entered the path.

It was very narrow and between seaweed-like stalks, until Sheila arrived at a large pond of piranhas and had to jump a few platforms, using her Strong Fist to break a wooden door down. Her power wore off as she reached a small cliff, where several slopes zigzagged left and right 'til at the top. A wooden wall was up there, and with no Strong Suit, Sheila had to carry a discarded powder keg up the slopes. Small rocks were rolled down the slopes, so at regular intervals, Sheila tossed her keg to the air, jumped, and avoided the rocks as she grabbed it again. She chucked the keg to blow open the wall once she made it, heading up the narrow slope where the rocks were still coming from.

Sheila climbed a short rock wall onto a path at the very base of a towering mountain, drums beating in the distance. "AaaaAAAH!" A Toad Warrior came falling down the mountain, recovering and raising its sword as he charged at Sheila, who kicked him over the edge. "Whoa, seems they're havin' a fight." Murfy figured. "They don't like intruders when they're angry. Better watch out."

Two more Toad Warriors fell over a large gap in the path and whipped open their parachutes, which Sheila used as platforms to jump to a higher ledge. She then entered a large enclosing within the mountain where Toads were battling Hoodlums, in which Hoodmonger Officers easily wiped them out with their three-bullet guns. Before a Hoodmonger could finish a weakened Toad, Sheila ran in and swung her foot to misdirect it, the leg and the rifle pushing against the other before the Hoodlum whipped it back to aim at her, but Sheila performed a quick spin and knocked him away. Two more officers ran at her, but Sheila flipped back and spun double Light Fists, jumping their bullets and blasting her fists to wipe them out instantly. Hoodloons were taking turns flapping down then, but one Light Sphere was still enough to defeat them until the last one dropped a Power Can.

She destroyed a few boulders holding down floating platforms with her Strong Fists, then was able to hurry up a tall slope and jump the gaps using the platforms, then destroyed the wooden door leading to the next area. She spun her tail and floated over a wide windy chasm where Lavomatrix – two metal tanks floating with helicopters, hovered on either side of her and began blasting. She slumped a little when one of the tanks grazed her tail, but regained herself as she spun a Strong Fist and destroyed one's cannon. But her power wore off then, so Sheila narrowly avoided their shots as she spun her left fist, whirling a Light Sphere around one and damaging from behind. She winced when the other one's bullet struck her rear, gritting her teeth in annoyance as she whirled several Light Spheres around it 'til it was down. As for the last one, she flipped upside-down so its bullet zipped between her legs, then sent a Light Kick around its back to destroy it as well.

A barred gate on a new ledge opened as Sheila floated in. Another wide enclosing where several walkway platforms led up to a high ledge, but the lowest one was guarded by an Armed Spinneroo, a metal-armored Hoodlum that wouldn't let Sheila through. A Hoodmonger possessed a Power Can, but was protected by a barrier created by a Hoodoo, who only appeared when Sheila tried to attack. It was easy to lure him out and destroy him before proceeding to defeat the Monger, giving Sheila the Strong Suit. She steadily punched the Spinneroo up the platforms – Fat Frogs were there to bounce him to higher ones, 'til the Hoodlum was knocked into a boiling spot where he was cooked into froggy stew.

Sheila made it on a pathway to an exterior of the mountain, where bands of Toad Warriors were screeching and rushing down with spears raised, still deeming Sheila the enemy as she readied to kick them, but saw more closely that Doomtoons were gnawing their heads. Sheila dealt swift kicks, knocked the Toads out, and knocked the Doomtoons off, then proceeded to punch their eyes out with Light Fists (literally). At the top of the slope, she entered the mountain again, where Fat Frogs rested on floating inflatable rafts, blown up by a strong draft below. Of course, she could easily propeller up the draft, but not when she had to carry a powder keg. Holding the heavy bomb, she could walk off the ledge onto the first frog and bounce only partway, but the draft kept her levitated enough to get to the next frog and so forth, while Heli-Doomtoons flew around to disrupt her progress.

Once close enough, she chucked the keg at the wood wall and could progress into the new enclosing. A great vine wall stretched up the mountain, many Toads falling from the top and many Hoodlum blimps patrolling around it. Sheila knocked out a few angry Toads before beginning her exciting ascent, having to avoid Hoodlums blasting cannons and making rocks above collapse and pour down rubble. Along a left side of the ladder, four Doomtoons were carefully circling around a cage, but when she climbed over, in the Hoodlums' attempt to cannon her, they missed and blew the cage open instead, destroying the Dooms. Sheila continued to climb, avoiding screaming falling Toads that wanted to slit her during descent, and many areas of the vines were collapsing due to the Hoodlums' constant bombing.

Her ears were already ringing by the time she made it onto a narrow path along the left. She couldn't get away from these bomb-happy freaks fast enough, but as she rushed up a zigzag path, a blue toad-like creature, with a round flat head and standing on only two feet, came running down the slope, his mouth wide. "AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Globox?" Murfy queried, Sheila spinning around when the toad zipped by. "What's his… AHH!" Ahead, a Hoodmonger was rushing down for attack. "Sheila, look out!" Murfy zipped up and struggled in tug-o-war over its gun. "This guy's André, the Black Lum boss! Quick, punch him!"

Starting to attention, Sheila whirled her fist, ran to the ordinary-looking Monger, and laid a powerful punch. Like the others, a Black Lum flew out, but what made him stand out were his skinny three-claw arms, and dim-red pupils. He buzzed up to Sheila, "So YOU'RE the buzz-killer killin' all my Hoodlums, well wait'll Mr. Dark gets a load about this!" He spoke faster than Murfy reading the manual. "Have fun while ya can, 'cause once we take over the Dream World, we're turning you into Raccoon Stew! I hope there's plenty o' juice in ya, huehehahahahaha!" He buzzed away. (End song.)

"Andy, come baaaaack!" Globox came back, crying after the Lum. "You were still IT, I'm sorry if I ran too fast!"

"So wait, you two're buddies?" questioned Sheila.

"Uh, he has a condition where he can't recognize enemies as enemies, so don't worry about comin' off too rude." Murfy informed.

"'o said I was worryin' about bein' rude? You're real wonked in the head, you know that? ?"

"Aww, it's okay to be _bashful_." Globox smiled goofily. "I'm always happy to make new friends. Hey, you're different! Are you some kinda worm-cat, you're not from around here, are ya?"

"Man, I'M Sheila Frantic, and Oi'm a wereraccoon. Now ah you this Chief Toad, 'cause I'm gettin' really sleepy here."

"Oh no, that guy is this way. Come on, I'll take ya!"

Globox led them further up the hill, and it seemed they were finally at the top of the mountain. A cage dangled from a tree, so Sheila punched a sphere and broke it. It wasn't Electoons, but a green frog with slanted yellow eyelids, white bushy brows and beard, a white belly, and an open black shirt. "You have my gratitude." spoke the frog in a deep, British-ish voice, blowing bubbles from his pipe. "I must say, I've met many a kind child lately. Hmhmhmhmhm."

"Oi, ah you the Chief Toad?" asked Sheila.

"Hmhm, no. I am Don Gero. I must say, I have only been home for 6 months, as I spent the last 6,000 years trapped in the form of some demented lizard, at the hands of a demon. You go through many trials by the time you're my age, hmhmhmhm."

"I hope, Mate. But where's the Chief Toad?"

"Sage Gamamaru, you must mean. This way, if you please." So the frog hopped away, to a village area roamed by Toads, and brought them to a rather large, wooden structure that was wide open, though dark inside. A few smaller, hippo-sized Toads were crouched around, but Sheila's eyes directed at the one sitting in the center.

"'EY! AH YOU the Chief TOOOAD?"

He was a a massive and fat toad, 3 stories high, old and wrinkly with dry lips, eyes only open in small slits, and pale orange-red skin. _"Ooooo… am I a toad?"_

"He's got memory problems." Murfy said. "Old people, right?"

_"Ooooo… yes… You are Sheila Frantic… aren't you."_

"Heeh." Sheila smirked and scratched her nose. "Already famous."

_"Oooo… yes… you are one of Seven. And one of two… already awakened."_

"Two, eh. So another Light found their selves?"

_"I see it… on Glacia… it has happened. Oooo… but so much more… there is to go. So many dangers… very great battles…"_

"You aren't scarin' me with that. I'll waste 'em all!"

_"Nooo… others will… live? No, die… There will be life, and death… croooak. But more on that later. What were those things you need… First…b..?"_

"The Eight Firstborn?"

_"No, there are nine. Er, ten? Eleven?… I lost count. Err, well you need them… because, there is something you need. Something very important. I forget what it's called… oh, but they are a pair. One of them… was found."_

"Um, 'kay? But where are the Firstborn?"

_"The Firstborn… yes… they are… scattered. Across the universe. Living amongst the mortals. Croak… and they need their new Guardians… to awaken themselves, croooak."_

"_Man_, you're boring." Sheila sighed. "Can't we speed through this? Whaddya mean they're living with mortals, ya mean they turned human?"

_"Croak… no… but they must be found soon… to open the door."_

"I don't suppose ya'll tell me what the door is?"

_"My prophecies don't come cheap. And my mind is… a bit foggy. Croak… but I do see something. Someone very dear to your hearts… is about to leave you."_

"You mean one of me mates is 'bout to die? ?"

_"Croak… he is about to be gone… facing powers he cannot comprehend. He will exist in your hearts… but nothing more."_

"Blimey." Sheila frowned. She doesn't think she can bear to lose one of her mates. She wondered just how long this person had. "Hope it isn't Mason. Is anybody else going to die?"

_"A few people… croak… but none more so than is necessary. I will tell you this: you must **die**… in order to live."_

"Well, that'll sound right in their ears then."

"I know it seems like a lot of blabber, but Sage Gamamaru makes very accurate prophecies." Don Gero assured. "Why, if you heard what he predicted for me, your heads might just implode upon themselves." He blew 3 bubbles.

"Mate, I've seen MANY things that made my head implode on itself… but it goes down after a day or two. But as the daughter of Golden-Fist Marine, I've prepared to keep my head sane against anything!"

_"Let's see… there was a bit more… A green light… I seem to see that. Surrounded by darkness… no physical form… it is very pretty. Very pretty indeed."_

"Yeah, I touched a few bug-zappers meself." Sheila remarked.

_"Ummm… and something about… a princess… bringing doom and destruction. Or did that already happen… yawn, I need a break."_

"Yaaaaawn. Me too." said Sheila with half-closed eyes. "I wanna move on already. Aren't we supposed to be finding this Rayman?"

"Ooo! I know where Rayman is!" Globox perked. "I saw them take him that way!" He pointed that way. "If we hurry, we could see 'im!" He ran off.

"Well, if you've nothing more for me, I'm headin' off." And with that, Sheila followed the blue Toad.

_"Croooak… that man has a marvelous purple cape."_

And as Sheila jumped in the Exit Portal after Globox, it was set in stone: that was the most boring post-stage scene ever.

**Midway Peak**

"At our castle, we have _five_ pools, but it's mostly for the servants since most of us can't swim." Doflamingo Jr. was saying to a pink-dressed girl with brown hair and a powdery face, who didn't look at all interested. "'Cause you know, gotta give them something to work for."

"My grades were so high in first grade," Chane was saying to a teen girl, "they let me skip to 4th, then I joined the Pop-culture Club just to see what it was like for regular people, and well, they kinda have some neat stuff, but more importantly-"

Wanting to get away from the riffraff, Carol Masterson walked to a back table where Mom's sons were sitting. "Hey, you don't mind if I sit here a bit, do—YAAAAH!" Someone under the table cupped Carol's mouth shut and pulled her under.

"Nnnnyaaaaah I knew Table Gnomes were real!" Larry panicked.

"No Berry Bunny for you." Walt took his dessert away.

_"Mmmm-mm-mm!"_ Carol desperately tried to shake away, but-

"Shhhh!" Cheren loosened his grip once she looked at him.

"Ch…_Cheren?"_ the rich girl whispered. _"What're you doing here?"_

"Long story short, I'm on a mission to kill the Head President."

"You know, there are better ways to express your anger over not being invited."

"I know, just help cover me while I wait, okay? These guys are already with me, and that businesslady, Mom."

"Okay, well, do you want me to cover you when all these rich guys send the hounds at you for killing their boss? ?"

"I dunno what—I'm still figuring it out. I just… need to know more about these people behind the scenes. The Government. I wasn't sure where to start in this whole Apocalypse, but this is my first and only chance. If things go wrong, I want you to contact Panini with this." He handed her his 4DS. "I'll be counting on you. And, good luck on your training."

Carol had many queries racing around her head, but couldn't put them together now, so she climbed out and left Cheren to himself. The boy kept a close eye on the party from under the curtains, and the doors at the top of the stairway. Any moment now, the Head President would appear…

**Cyberspace**

_A tight race taking place at Sugar Rush, with Vanellope von Schweetz taking the lead, Taffyta close on her tail. The two passed devious grins to each other, but Vanellope had no intention of letting her pass. It was inevitable as Vanellope was holding the trophy at the end._

_A giant cake was baked as Vanellope and Candlehead were in a race to see who could eat the most. A tickle fell on Vanellope's nose, causing her to sneeze and blow Candlehead's candle out, and when the girl fell into panic, Vanellope accomplished victory._

_A wild time at the Candy Bar, where Vanellope and Rancis raced to see who could guzzle the most soda. Rancis had an overfizz, and Vanellope was soon standing on the table, cheering in victory and kicking other soda jugs away._

_Before they knew it, Sugar Rush was under attack by XANA and his armies. The Kolossus stomped across the candy plains and crushed many of the brave tasty warriors. It punched Vanellope to the ground and raised its sword to stab her. Taffyta, Candlehead, and Rancis jumped in the way and blocked the sword together, with Taffyta sparing a smile to Vanel before their bodies derezzed. Vanellope was able to make it to XANA, dodging all of his attacks and infecting his body. With a great burst of her digital energy, XANA was sealed away._

Vanellope awoke in a pitch-black room on a small table. "Boo, hoo, hoo." A familiar, caped figure marched out from the darkness. "Poor, poor Vanel."

She kept a calm, cool look as XANA revealed himself, a malicious grin on his digital face. "I bet you never thought you'd see me again- &#^." His face glitched into that of King Candy/Turbo's before reverting.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked quizzically.

"What- *^#? !" He became furious. "Whaddyou MEAN, who am I? Don't you remember ANYthing, stupid girl? Attempted to conquer the KND mainframe, imprisoned me at the cost of your own life, revived you with a lack of memory and called you my daughter, abused and forced you to find the means to awaken me, got you to befriend a simple little boy and break his heart when he learned you betrayed him, left YOU high and dry when I no longer needed you, then you miraculously got your memory back and ultimately obliterated me? ? RING A BELL?"

"Sorry man, but I dunno anything like that." She shook her head.

"Ohh- ()*&% no matter. I've long forgotten the past, anyway." He paced around. "Not when our future's so bright! We are inside a very intriguing place, Vanel. Would you like to guess what that is?"

"Uhhhh-" Glitch, "Canada?"

"NNNNNNOO! ! This is the bridge to the world that will _be_! This is the very confines of… THE NEW WORLD! !" When XANA indicated outside of their dark chamber, Vanellope saw they were over some kind of lava sea, with many metal islands of giant gears. "Lord Gnik has sent me here to have everything prepared for when he is finally ready to come, and YOU will HELP ME." He jabbed a finger at Vanel. "Not just for me, but for your _friends_, too, because we want _nothing_ more than their sure-as-sugar safety. So… is it agreed?" He held a hand down, grinning slyly.

Vanellope only stared at him. This guy was a real creep. _"LESSER Lord."_

"Ehh, what?" XANA turned when the Zoni appeared.

_"The one you speak of… is LESSER LORD."_

"Ahh, Lesser Lord, Shmesser Lord. If you care about your little buddies back on Earth, you haven't really a choice. So… is it a deal?" He held his hand down again.

Vanellope looked between him, the Zoni, and the lava pit below. "Well, if it's really the only way, then… naturally, I won't believe you!"

"Wh-Whaaat?" She took XANA by surprise when she leapt into the pit. "Heeeey! Come back here, you stupid girl! COME BAAAAAAAACK- &*$%^#)(" After ragingly stomping his foot, he stopped to calm down. "Oh, I knew we shouldn't've let Dr. Nefarious implant his personality into me…" (Play "Medium – Heat/Clockwork" from _Homestuck_.)

_Stage 19: Land of Heat and Clockwork_

_Mission: Follow the Zoni._

All it was was an endless sea of boiling lava, and metal refineries of giant gears floating everywhere. Vanellope jumped some floating turning gears, avoiding fireballs that shot up between them as the platforms inched higher. They brought Vanellope to a lone metal platform of oil drums and a crane, where she met her first 3 Zoni. _"We are here for you, Sire. Come, and we shall help you destroy it."_ Vanellope still had no idea what "it" was, but the Zoni proceeded to take control of the crane and pull something up from beneath the magma. Stretching across a portion of the sea appeared to be an obstacle course for a 2-D side-scroller. _Mario_ was what came to mind, except this looked totally messed up: little black Piranha Plants called Munchers were stationed on all floors, and many dangerous jumps were required to get through. _"XANA has modified this world."_ the Zoni explained. _"He has tampered with powers beyond his own. You must **fix**, or your friends may **never** survive."_

Vanel saw that a Red Koopa was pacing before the course's base. She jumped on and stole its shell, and with extreme careful precision, she bounced on the shell across the Munchers, having to repeatedly grab it at the same time she jumped, to use it over and over. She kicked it above two close walls which she Wall Jumped afterward, grabbing the shell again to precisely bounce it between narrow enclosings of Munchers. At the end of the Muncher Road, Vanellope was forced to jump high, kick the shell forward so it bounced off a small floating block with a Muncher, bounce off the shell and over the Muncher when it came back, then glitched around a few more floating Munchers onto a safe floating gear.

From here was a series of small floating blocks with Firebars rotating slowly. Very far apart, Vanellope could only reach them via glitching, able to manage 3 glitches at a time with each Zoni. She timed them carefully to avoid getting burned, but soon the blocks were much too far to reach. However, Vanel noticed a Zoni on a higher block, able to glitch her way to it and recruit. _"Zoni."_ With one extra glitch, she could zap her way to the farther blocks, having to zap up a stairway of double-Firebars before she landed on a gear. She looked down and saw an even larger gear in the lava below, taking a mighty leap and using her Glitchwarp to dodge the many streams of fire that emerged out of midair.

Taking land on the gear, a gang of XANA Creepers, Kankrelats, and Krabs spawned out of thin air, sights locked on the glitch. When they shot the first lasers, Vanellope glitched around and lightspeed-kicked several Creeps and Kanks, knocking them in the lava. She dealt a rapid storm of multiple kicks against the Krabs until they fell, and when 10 Kankrelats/Creepers surrounded her, in a single circly blue zip, the monsters fell dead. The Zoni then flew over one part of the sea and flashed their arms, causing two parallel series of pillars with cannons to rise from the flames. They all started blasting Bullet Bills, but none too many at a time, and were fairly unclear of when they would fire, making it difficult for Vanel as she jumped and glitched across them. The Bill river curved right as Vanel kept up her careful jumps, but eventually their route came to an end.

XANA Hornets were buzzing over a vast area of the sea, so Vanellope continued her jumping spree using them as sacrifices. They were coming to be really far apart, forcing her to time her glitches carefully. To the left, she saw a lone gear with a Zoni to the distance, glitching to it when ready to recruit the creature. _"Zoni."_ She continued her venture over the Hornets before they eventually ended, and she went plummeting toward the sea. But when just inches from the red, a Bullet Bill shot outta nowhere and bounced her up. More Bills poofed out of thin air and kept her going, her digital heart racing as she wondered where they might appear, and she also spotted a P-switch and spring fall out of nowhere and quickly grabbed them both before they hit the lava.

She landed on a new gear platform, and her next trial was a floating ceiling of spikes with many walls and obstructions, and leaping all around and out of the lava were happy, carefree dolphins. Not red dolphins that would be adapted to the fire, ordinary water dolphins that survived in the lava somehow, and could go through the walls, though Vanellope wouldn't be able to. So she hopped the swarm of jumping dolphins around the tight corners and many Munchers, keeping a tight grip on her spring and P-switch. The dolphins eventually brought her to a series of floating coins, aligned like platforms, and when she briefly pushed the P-switch—grabbing hold of the spring again immediately—the coins turned into sturdy block platforms she began rushing over, needing to fling herself to higher ones with the spring, while grabbing it again the same time she bounced.

She hurriedly raced to the end of the platforms when their time was running out, and seeing the huge gap that lay afterward, she took a running jump and leapt, throwing the spring beneath her for an extra boost, then glitched the rest of the way onto a gear in the lava. Fireballs jumping from the lava led across now, so Vanellope jumped across them via spin-jumps. She was making her way under a giant refinery, taking land on a stable platform where XANA Mags – lava centipedes with big pincers and XANA's eye in-between, crawled out of the lava to snap Vanel between their scissor-like pincers. When they opened wide to pinch, that was her cue to zip up, kick 'em in the eyes, and make them curl and cool.

Just like before, she managed to grab two of them like one with her glitchy prowess. But since the only way across were once again fireballs, she had to put them down, pick them up again mid-spin-jump, and begin bouncing the fireballs, 'cause that's how that glitch works. Every now and then, she had to kick them to the air and grab 'em again before they uncurled, and the fireballs steadily bounced higher the farther she got. One of them eventually flew as high as the refinery's ledge, so Vanel could hop on. As she approached the building in the center, swarms of Megatanks, Bloks, and two Scyphozoas appeared to greet her. She set the Mags down and smirked wittingly, gesturing them forward with her fingers.

They began blasting, but Vanel glitched around and started kicking the Bloks in the eyes, but had a trickier time dodging the Megatanks' expanding barriers. But there were too many around, attacking from every direction, and soon Vanellope was knocked off her feet. That's when the Scyphozoa wrapped its slim, clear tentacle around her, touched them to all sides of her head, and began to absorb her very data. She felt entranced by its very appearance, and didn't want to escape it at all. Just staring mindlessly… as her very essence merged with it.

The Zoni immediately threw energy spheres and attacked the squids, freeing Vanellope from the grasp. _"The powers you must show, Sire."_ The Zoni presented a sphere that switched many neon colors, with a circle symbol with a '+' on its down-left. _"Awaken with this."_

The monsters still attacking her, Vanellope zipped up and dealt an array of rapid kicks against the Smash Ball. It shattered, and her body glowed with neon aura, her eyes yellow. "Guh- Guh- Guh- _GLI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-…"_ In a blink, the pitch-black sky, rocky gray refinery, and fiery red sea all flashed an assortment of colors, their pixels showing, and the entire cyberspace glitched. After 10 seconds, the world flashed back to normal, and all of the monsters were over the chasm. In a fashion like Wile Coyote, they dropped into the lava sea. The XANA Mags were still available, and all Vanellope needed 'em for was to hold down two switches. A huge garage door opened, so Vanellope entered the building. (End song.)

Vanellope hid behind some large crates, watching the sight unfurl. Two gangs were clearly in a squabble, a crew of pitch-black beings in gray coats and one of sickly green beings in same-colored coats. Vanellope noted how crudely designed they were. "So wat's the deal of meetin' us hea', seee?" a green guy asked.

"You know why weuh heuh. You work for the You-Know-Who, see?" a black guy replied.

"Oh, enemies of the Boss, are ya?"

"Yah, you know your Boss ain't nothin' more than stardust, see?"

"They say that about everyone, seee, but I knows he's-a burnin' out there, maybe-a over there."

"Well, if he's-a out here, show me da proof, see?"

There was a soft, echoey _"Oooo"_ and Vanellope saw it: a strange, green glimmer of light floating into a window. Well, not so much a glimmer, more of a… Shimmer.

"AAAAH! IT'S IT! IT'S IT! SHOOOOOT!" On the black guy's cue, both sides furiously blasted the other with guns. It was only a matter of seconds before they both fell dead.

Vanellope walked out as the Shimmer hovered above the center. Its mystic green glow reflected off her big round eyes, and the Zoni hovered behind her. _"It's HEEERE… SIRE."_

"Uhhh… hello there." Vanel greeted.

_"Oooo."_ Flash.

"Um… so what's your name?"

_"OooOOo!"_

"Can't tell me, huh? Well, um… do you know how to get back to Earth?"

_"OOOooo."_

"You've… been there before?"

_"Oooo."_

"Several Earths, huh? Well… Ah dunno, one with Dillon on it?"

_"OooooOOO!"_

"WHAT? Whaddyou mean Dillon's dead?"

_"Ooo."_

"Not THAT Dillon, the one who's… Wait… how d'you know about that Dillon?"

_"Ooo…OOOO!"_ And on that note, the Shimmer flew out the window, shrinking beyond the sky.

"HEEEEEY! Come back."

_"**He** was born out of its fire, **He** will be its Face."_ The Zoni moaned in their creepy monotone.

"Uhhhh what was that?"

_"It comes to CLAIM. It comes to SIRE. **THE END OF EVERY RACE."**_

**Orbital Auditorium**

The transport vessel brought Maddy, Drake, and Team Ratchet to a tremendous space station whose huge glass dome was flashing with colors. The loads of passengers, all of whom were dressed as though they were attending a high-schooler's party, scrambled to get off, while the five heroes slowly followed behind. The transport zipped away the moment they got off, and Maddy, still under her cloak, studied the giant lobby with interest. "Soooo what is this place?"

"My friend," Ratchet patted her back, "you are in Electrodrome." (Play "Electrodrome" from _Mario Kart 8_!)

The following room was definitely the hugest disco party Maddy or Drake had ever seen. The stars of space loomed over the great glass dome above, and hanging in its center was a disco ball the size of a house. The stadium was mostly flashing purple, but at regular intervals it flashed yellow, green, red, any color. Techno music boomed throughout the stadium as aliens of many species danced with great enthusiasm. Stage lights of various colors zoomed everywhere, and there were dozens of giant TVs that switched screens showing different dancing groups. There was a single giant stage of three layers on the farthest side where slim, male and female alien dancers danced consecutively.

A great white cloud of smoke erupted from the pipes onstage, and a small shadowed figure rose from below. When the steam cleared, she was shone to be a fairy-like imp with what they deduced as a pretty white face with big dark-blue eyes with a gradient of black. She had same-colored hair in a ponytail much like the female dancers, but little black lines up it that looked a little like a music sheet. She wore a brown dress that ended above her waist, her stubby legs white like her face, and on the right side of her head was a microphone earpiece shaped like a treble clef.

"WHAT-UUUUUP, Electrodroooome!" Her youthful spunky voice echoed across the dome, winking her large left eye. "This be your host, Spirit-Dancer Unova! Hope you're ready for another night o' partying, 'cause we got a hot new concert TONIGHT! Let's kick it off with a round from Yours Truly! Dooooon't party out!" And she began a song with her lovely voice.

_I see you lookin', at me, oveeeeer theeeeere._ Her voice matched the rhythm of the music, letting a flock of notes fly over part of the crowd.

_I see you look away, when I tuuuurn to staaaare._

_I know how you feel 'bout me_

_But never you let me do see_

_If it's you wish… then please… just LEEEET your VOICE BE FREEEE!_

And she began to fly across the dome, a musical trail in her wake. Maddy and friends stared with wonder as her trail glowed neon, and many glittering notes rained down.

_(Just free your voice.)_

_To the STAAAARS a-BOOOOVE_

_(Free your voice.)_

_To SHOOOOW your LOOOOVE_

_(Free your voice!)_

_…And leeeet it seeeee_- She returned to stage.

_What it means. (DUN!) To live. (DUN!) In PERFECT harmonyyyyy!_

The two pipes on either side of her exploded with confetti and the dancers cheered. "I would guess Kateenians don't come here often." Drake assumed.

"Is THAT Courtney Gears?" asked Maddy.

"_That_ is Unova, a regular singer here." replied Clank. "I do not know her species, but she has a spectacular voice." He unlatched himself from Ratchet's back, "I will head to the roof and continue signaling for Maddy's brother. If Nefarious's drones come, you four will be easily able to hide among the crowds. Call if either of us run into trouble. Assuming you aren't too preoccupied with your bodies, mmhmhehehe."

"WHAT-UP, fellaaaaas?" Qwark slid in, in a new hip black jacket, white undershirt, black pants, sunglasses, and gold rings on his fingers that read 'DAWG' 'GUNNIT'. "How d'you like Qwark's new grooooove? Don't be surprised if I bring a few ladies with me by the time we leave."

"Yeah, but shouldn't one of us go with Clank, make sure he handles all right?" Drake queried.

"Not me!" Maddy had already thrown her cloak off, rocking her head to the groove. "I'm already pumped! Probly some hypnotic stuff in that music 'cause I CAN'T STOP SHAKIN'!"

Drake whispered to Ratchet, "There is somethin' very hypnotic, 'cause she like never acts like this. Usually she's a, sour dog."

"Rrrright… Well uh, I'll keep track of Clank with my Find-My-Robot app," Ratchet held up a cellphone, "check if he's on the roof doin' his duties, and we can hide from Nefarious here. Watch your backs, guys."

_Stage 20: Electrodrome_

_Mission: See the Courtney Gears concert! (and wait for Zach to come, I guess)_

So the trio began their dance in the hip, groovy dance club, navigating around several aliens whom were swaying so fast, they might just cause them notable damage. It seemed different parts of the floor were divided by digital pink rivers, with square platforms zipping around and around them, which the crew hopped one to reach another floor. A trio of Spinneruffs were dancing to the groove, then rapidly whirling their dogs around, though it seemed this was part of their dance and not trying to attack them. Regardless, Maddy hopped above and kicked a Spinneruff away while Ratchet and Drake both caught the others with grapplers and hurled them against each other. Their defeat made some Swingshot targets appear over a longer digital river, Drake holding Maddy as they all swung to a new path through the dance studio.

Pairs of Shy Guys were holding one end of a long limbo stick on either side of the path, stepping left and right as the trio had to slide under them, because if they jumped, a random laser would blast them. Once past the Groove Guys, they had to jump a series of black pipes over a digital ground, in which Groove Plants – black Piranha Plants with flashing neon spots, came out every now and then to dance to the beat, and snack anyone who jumped by. They had to jump the pipes fast before they came out, then swung two Swingshot targets to a square platform surrounded by digital. A duo of smaller platforms circled counterclockwise around a center, and lines of colorful beams flashed over them, horizontal and vertical, having to ride them across at right timing and jump off. However, when Drake had the impulse to be stylish and ride the platforms for five consecutive loops, avoiding the beams excellently, he earned a Skill Point.

After a minor zigzaggy path, they exited an archway to a hallway with a high ceiling, and Buffbod guards marching around, muscular aliens with rock-like bodies and black shirts, pants, and boots. As they approached the first guard, it tumbled forward to flatten Maddy and Drake, but the former managed to raise him with her own strength, arms trembling, and chucked him against the guard behind him. Drake pulled himself 3-dimensional again and blasted his harpoon at the first one's rocky face when he recovered, and with his hook still latched, Ratchet ran across the rope and slammed a grenade in his face, then flipped overhead to blast a missile at the second one.

This hall led to a dead end, where it seemed the next door was high up near the ceiling, no way to get to it. However, some colorful spotlights moved diagonally across the walls, closer to the floor at the start of the room, and the heroes were able to Wall Jump these and not the actual walls for some reason. They timed their jumps carefully to catch the lights when they came, eventually making it into the door. This whole floor was a digital sea with small floating platforms that aliens were occupying, dancing away. This room seemed to flash colors much more often, and they noticed whenever a certain color flashed, neon platforms appeared in areas over the sea. Some were in convenient positions, some were not, so they kept an eye out for a set of platforms that worked well with the order of colors.

Red, yellow, green, and blue made an order of platforms which the trio carefully jumped to get to a safe foothold. The following flashing platforms were farther apart, and appeared one color apart from each other. Only Ratchet could cross the platforms with his jetboots, having to stay hovered long enough for the platforms to appear as he navigated across. Becoming confused as where to go before long, he noticed a Swingshot target also flashed to existence when red came. He quickly swung this target and landed on a blue platform that appeared just then, but this route led him to a Gold Bolt platform otherwise hidden by four floating aliens.

After grabbing the bolt, Ratchet eventually navigated his way to a platform with a screw, turning and turning 'til the large disco ball up top unlatched and crashed on the digital ground, the Lombax flinching. It was conveniently by Maddy and Drake, who climbed on and rolled it around. They got beside Ratchet, who climbed on as they carefully balanced around for a way out. They noticed the giant screens flashing brief screenshots of dancers showed Unova in many pretty poses and winks, and Captain Qwark grooving in the other room. They had to watch out for appearing flash-platforms that served as obstacles, but the trio eventually found an opening in the wall to a new room, still over the electric digital.

It was another narrow room with many disco balls overhead, and the three had to navigate around lasers in the digital. At the path's end, Drake shot his harpoon to a peg above and pulled his friends to it, landing them on a higher ledge where they crossed the disco balls. They got to a platform and passed a door back to the flashing color room, now on the second floor where large record platforms hovered around. There was one beside them, but all the others were very far apart, but depending on the color flashed, arrows appeared on the records, indicating the direction they would be flung. They waited for it to point at the next record before jumping on and flinging over, and kept this cycle going until they made it to a platform in a far corner.

The black-painted hallway that followed was definitely the quietest, and they had a chance to ease their eyes from the sea of colors and lights that was this dome. Maddy felt like she would never see things in normal color again, and since she was already using contact lenses, she felt like she would go blind. The hall directed downward 'til they found an exit, overlooking giant records on a huge DJ desk. When they dropped in, they gaped at the giant creature playing the records: a light-brown, chubby, happy-faced rock creature known as a Goron. A Big one, specifically, wearing sunglasses and a microphone headset. He was about to put his hand on the records again, but- "Ooo?" tilted his glasses up to view the visitors with his clear blue eyes. "Ooooohh, guests! What brings you to Goro-jockey's DJs-goro?"

"Uhhhh just passing by. You know where the Courtney Gears concert is?" Ratchet asked.

"Just follow that way-goro!" He pointed to a trio of purple lightrails to his right. "And if you want to, stay to participate in the race! I hear there's a big prize-goro."

"We'll think about it." So with that, the trio crossed the records to the rails, the Goron returning to his music. The rails snaked and led them downward into the pitch-black abyss, but when they grinded through a very small opening, their eyes became uneasy again as they glided through a very wide tunnel of purple staticky walls, which shortly began flashing assortments of colors. Red, green, yellow, blue, and many scattered pieces of rails appeared in many random places whenever certain colors flashed. The trio ended up separating and kept sharp eyes out for where rails would appear and quickly jumped to them, and Drake ended up following a route that gave him a Gold Bolt, going up the walls and upside-down. But Maddy was definitely developing some sort of seizure, unable to focus on the flashing rails as she inevitably took the fall.

Drake blasted his harpoon-turned-into-a-claw down and clutched her inches above the electrical outsides, pulling her to and carrying her himself as he glided his rails with ease. "This is why _I_ wear SUNGLASSES." he yelled over the music. The colors became really nauseating really fast, but it was over soon when they grinded on three stable rails into an expansive black chamber. They arrived at the biggest room of the dome, where thousands of aliens screamed before a large purple stage with a huge TV over it. The rails landed them on a single platform very far from the floor and above a wide portion of digital floor, so they needed to jump some slow-moving purple light-platforms, moving back-and-forth between set areas. The last platform didn't have anywhere else to go, so they swung a few Swingshot targets (which, by the way, are in the form of disco balls) to a platform on the massive back wall, where they grabbed hold of a very thin ledge where Snapdragons waited. As they climbed across, these Snapdragons danced to the groove while they tried to snack prey, but it didn't stop Ratchet from whacking them with his wrench.

They arrived at and grinded down one last purple lightrail before making a stylish land into the audience. They rushed toward the front of the stadium and blended in with the thousands of aliens. (End song.)

**Atop the dome**

Clank continued to fiddle with his transmission radio, but all he could pick up was static. "Hmmm. I hope Maddy's brother did not run into any danger. Judging by her description of him, he may not be the most reliable figure in this situation. I will try and contact other frequencies in the Milky Way. One of them should ultimately be her… hmm?" The sight of the familiar incoming ship made him look up.

**Inside the dome**

The trio made their way to the front of the crowds and settled within them. "Think this is hidden enough?" Maddy asked.

"Well, it's not like we have a ship anymore, so they can't determine we're here." Ratchet replied. "And why would we abandon to go to some crummy concert? Believe me Mads, the odds of Nefarious finding us here are a million to one."

_"Ladies and gentlemen and NUCHACHOS!"_ The stadium turned darker as spotlights shone on the stage, smoke fogging it._ "Give an earsplitting roar for the two you all know and love: Courtney Gears and PINK MONKEEEEEY!"_ Two slim figures emerged from the stage, one tall and one short. The silver-bodied popstar with the red top and shorts and brown metal hair – Courtney Gears, and a blonde-haired monkey in a pink T-shirt and shorts with brown shoes, and black cap with a pink roof, both posing cutely.

"What? She wasn't on the poster." Ratchet said.

"One of her back-up singers had an accident?" Maddy wondered. They only stood and watched as Courtney sang.

_I see the future, and what do I see_

_Robots roamin' crazy through the, GALAXYYY_

_Look around you, nowhere to fly_

_Fleshies better watch out 'cause, GONNA DIIIIE-_

Pink Monkey shoved her away, the microphone falling to her hand. "Out of the way! They were applauding _me_."

_Siiiimple thoughts: leeeeead us to siiiimple liiiives_

_Thaaaat is why: the monkey stiiiill survives. And try-ies-_

Both singers were flown away when a larger, fatter woman with hands, shoes, and head separate from the body crashed on the stage. She had blonde hair in two long pigtails and a Viking hat. "The two of you are ou-u-u-utdated, now it's MY turn!" Space Mama proclaimed in a high-pitch opera voice. She started to sing in a foreign tongue none of those aliens understood—so Pink Monkey flew up and kicked her away.

"Schedule your OWN time, I'm singing for my Specter!" she exclaimed.

"Uhhck, how LUDICROUS." Mama was still in Song Mode. "My voice SPEEEEAKS for Dear Mr. Dark, I would like it should you not interRUPT me."

"BOTH of you need to get lost." Courtney Gears stomped back onstage. "Dr. Nefarious ordered ME to organize this trap. Let's bring him on now." She pushed a remote, and the huge TV above her projected Dr. Nefarious' image.

_"Hello, Orbital Stadium! How are you this fine day?"_

"Dr. Nefarious, will you PLEASE tell these two to go back to their own masters? ?"

"HEY, I was sent here by Specy himself!" Pink protested. "Just ask him!" She took the remote and switched to Specter's image.

The ape had just walked onscreen with a towel around his waist. _"Tomoki, didn't I tell you to get the banana bath salt-"_

"Hi Specter!"

_"WAAAAH!"_ He quickly grabbed his voice-modifier and switched to his deep, cooler voice. _"Ahem- Pink Monkey! Why are you calling, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"_

"Well sorry Specter, but these MEANIES keep getting in my way! Can't you yell at their bosses?"

"OutRAGEOUS!" Space Mama took the remote. "We w-w-will see what Mr. DARK has to SAY about THIS!" And she switched to the cloaked man's image.

_"WwwwwWHAT. Space Mama."_

"Meester Dark, PLEASE tell these HOOLIGANS that this SONG wast mine and mine alone."

"It wasn't NEITHER of yours!" Two Team Rocket agents, Cassidy and Butch stomped onscreen. "Giovanni sent US here to find the Music Spirit, Meloetta! Didn't you, Giovanni?" They switched to the shadowed Team Rocket leader.

_"Yes, that's correct. Our readings detected a lot of Musical Chi in that area, so if you don't mind."_

Specter's screen appeared on with Giovanni's, both smooshing the other, _"Well of course there's a lot of Music Chi, it's a ***king DANCE club. And I sent Pink here to create a mega-frequency satellite in the area, so if you don't mind-"_

_"Hey, THIS area was under MY territory,"_ Nefarious's squished on next, _"and if you don't want your MINIONS turned into robots, I suggest you GET OUT OF HERE."_

_"If I may interject,"_ Mr. Dark appeared, _"what makes you think a Music Spirit would be in such a populated area, especially with such DEAFENING beats. Space Mama, I specifically requested you head to Symphonia, not that run-down DUMP."_

_"Now excuse me, if I-"_

_"HETERUVERVYWYVBYRJVLLVWOUWEWCBBCWYWVWHACIUL-"_ Inevitably, all four leaders were in the incomprehensible squabble.

_"SILEEEENCE!"_ Plankton appeared, his picture teeny. _"If you're done bickering with yourselves, you should know I captured one of the Lights successfully."_

_"That's just BEAUTIFUL, Plankton. Is he awakened?"_ Specter asked.

_"Why yes, of course, we did the life-changing journey all in a night—OF COURSE HE'S NOT AWAKENED YET! !"_

_"Look, I'M done talking about this,"_ yelled Nefarious, _"I just wanna CAPTURE the stupid Maddy girl and be on our way. She SHOULD be riiiiight-"_ The room's camera zoomed around. _"Where did she go?"_

Nefarious Drones had broken into the dome of the main dance room, aliens screaming and scrambling to escape. "Yo, what's goin' on? ?" exclaimed one of Unova's male dancers.

"I dunno, I dunno!" cried the imp-like singer. "Do so many people really detest the Art of Voice? ?"

But before the robots could begin searching, a sudden beam of lightning struck from a stagelight and destroyed them all in milliseconds, then stopped and sparked in place before the stage. Unova gasped, "Are…Are you-? ?"

The spark took the form of an orange round figure with a needled point on its head, oval blue eyes, and a mouth. "I'll save you, Milady! Rotom on the scene!"

Maddy, Drake, and Ratchet raced all the way to a downstairs hangar, where ships of all designs were parked. "We gotta take one of these things and get outta here!" Ratchet yelled.

"But we don't even have keys!" Maddy replied rushedly.

"Hang on, this one is robot-operated." Ratchet indicated a small, two-seat ship. "If only Clank were—CLANK, it's Ratchet, meet us in the hangar, we gotta MOVE!" he yelled in his wristwatch.

"I'm right here." They jumped around as the short robot hurried in. "I saw Nefarious's ship approaching and hurried to find you."

"Couldn't you call us first?"

"I'm here, aren't I? Let's go where they will not find us."

"But what about Superman-or-whatever? Eh, Qwark?" asked Drake.

"He's not responding." Ratchet looked at his staticky wristwatch and sighed with doubt. "It's not big enough for him, anyway. We'll come back for you soon, Qwark." So with that, the team hopped inside as Clank powered the engine, the other three smooshed close together as they took off from the dome. Clank's round green eyes turned red.

_"HYPATOOWCNRENBIRBPIUQIVEBPOBWUVWVYKUEWVERIUV-"_ Team Gnik ended up in another babble fest.

_"SIIILEEEENCE!"_ XANA appeared this time. _"Look, I'm having a really bad day, and you all are making it worse, so let's just…let's just chill out."_

_"…Okay."_ agreed Plankton.

_"Yeah."_ followed Specter.

_"Mmph."_ muffled Dark.

Ragaj Gnik's image appeared in the center as a familiar jingle played.

_Here's the story:_

_of a man named Ragaj_

_Who was leader of an evil group of baddies!_

_These guys… got into a squabble_

_When Nefarious tried to kidnap Maddy._

Said robot shrugged in his frame. Their images vanished and were replaced by Gnaa and his group, Bowser, Eggman, K. Rool, Rumpel, Brain, Ganondorf, and Gaul.

_Here's the story:_

_of a man named Gna-aa_

_Who was leader of a similar evil crew._

_And if this group… could learn to work together_

In his screen, Rumpel Stiltskin screamed and ran as the Grim Reaper followed.

_Then maybe Gnik's can, too._

It switched back to Team Gnik, exchanging mixed looks of begrudging agreement.

_In Seeeven Lights._

_It's Seven Lights._

_And only one, of, us, will win the fight._

**Midway Peak**

The party hadn't changed for the next hour-and-a-half. Conversation was dying down, and most of the food had been extinguished. Cheren absorbed the last of a Coco Pop Carol had given him, leaving the saliva-colored white stick on the ground. He peeked around, and the Corporate Presidents were all waiting by the stairs, including Mom. The talking was ultimately ceased when four horns were blown.

_"Your ATTENTION please. Our guest of honor will now be joining us. The most successful of all of us, having earned the position of right-hand woman to World Leader, Jennifer Bush, the LEADER of the Corporate Presidents!"_

The party erupted with applause, and Cheren spied more intently than ever. The doors at the top of the stairs flew open, and a small shadow, growing larger as it approached, walked casually to the entrance. Her footsteps echoed from within, and Cheren fixed his glare tighter when she stepped into the light of the balcony (it was nighttime, so lamps and stuff). A slim, serious woman in a white labcoat and blue shirt with a gray tie. She had blue jeans, brown boots, short brown hair, and hazel eyes behind blue glasses. She could've definitely been mistaken for Cheren's mom.

_Name: Morgan Catherine Uno_

_Race: Human (demon-blooded)_

_Occupation: Leader of the Corporate Presidents_

_Ability: Psychicbending; Imagination_

Morgan stood atop the stairs and viewed her many guests. She closed her eyes and sensed all of their auras. The Corporate Presidents, their children, and all the rich nobles possessed red auras. The only exceptions were Carol Masterson, with a light-blue aura, and Don Quixote Sugar, with a grayish-white aura with a few other colors mixed in. But one of the red auras looked out of place: it was a fiery orange instead of a dark-red, and originated under a table. She opened her eyes, and with a yank of her right hand, Cheren Uno came flying out. "WHOOOA!" He was placed on his feet at the stairs' base. The balcony erupted with gasps.

"I thought I sensed a familiar aura. For a second, I thought it was my father or Cousin Nigel. Didn't expect to see my nephew here."

"Fufufu!" Doflamingo grinned. "My, what a shocking reunion! I guess our dear Head President isn't without family after all." Indeed, the other presidents noticed the distinct traits shared between Morgan and Cheren.

Cheren gripped the hilt of his sword, glare fixed on Morgan. "Aunt Morgan. Why…Why are YOU working with them? !"

She kept her calm, toneless look. "Simple. I grew up. I knew I wouldn't get far staying in your Kids Next Door. Even though we were allowed to retain our memories… I couldn't stay in these childish games for long. I will admit though, they were fun games while they lasted. But no person stays a child forever, Cheren."

Sugar glanced away at this.

"In the real world, fun and games will get you nowhere. Only those with a grown-up intellect, and the knowledge to succeed in the world will place you on top."

"Really? Is that why you dumped your siblings at Foster's?"

"Buddy, Athena, Sophie, and Beckah are still parts of me. But not parts I can spend all my time talking to." She fixed her slanted glasses. "They're safe where they are at Foster's, and I'll summon them when I need them. But what matters now is my place in the professional field."

"And just who got you to think like that, anyway? !"

"Well, no one in particular. I just started thinking it myself. Though I had a few shoves from my new master. But however you choose to see it, I'm happy where I am now."

"Fufufufu." Doflamingo marched forward. "That's all well and good, Miss Head President." He stopped a few feet from Cheren. "But another question arises: how did you manage to GET here, Boy?" His grin was malicious.

Cheren glanced to Mom behind Doflamingo, wearing a fake surprised expression like the others, but her eyes threatened him if he blew their cover. "…It doesn't matter how I got here. What matters is why:" he aimed his sword at Morgan. "To bring Aunt Morgan back to OUR side!"

"Fufufufu! You're trying to do so NOW?"

"Yes. The Apocalypse is coming, and we need all operatives' strength. And Morgan, is STILL an operative! I'll bring her back even if I have to FORCE her!"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Morgan asked. "You don't know how much I've gone through to get this far."

"You're right. I don't. And I. Don't. CARE!" He rushed up the stairs with his sword ready to strike. (Play "Poké Floats" from _Smash Bros. Melee_!)

Morgan whipped out her blue lightsaber, sliced a Japanese symbol on the ground, and pressed her hand to it. "Summoning: CHOMPJAWS."

_"ROOOOAR!"_ In a puff of smoke, a huge, tentacled Chain Chomp-like monster emerged from the symbol. It had a pitch-black, shiny round head with red eyes and mouth, and many spiked, flexible tentacles made of various balls. Cheren was blown down the stairs, surprised at the monster's appearance.

"It's an Imaginary Friend!" Numbuh Sweetie-1 gasped.

"Nuuuu! I read that it takes a lot of Psychic Chi to create or summon an Imaginary Friend-daizokun." Bison exclaimed. "But it takes even MORE chi to summon an Extremeasaur! Nuuuu her chi is really great-daizokun!"

"Fufufu." Doflamingo grinned. "The truth is, Morgan's level of chi is equal to that of that Mika woman. The only reason she isn't a Logia, is because the World Leaders forbidded it!"

Chompjaws lashed a tentacle at Cheren, but he jumped away. Another was coming his way, so he swung his sword and sliced it clean off. The tentacle's balls divided around the ground, forming lit fuses that shrunk into the balls and exploded tremendously. "OOOOOHHH!" Many of the nobles held their dresses and wigs down, while some were blown in the air. Chompjaws grabbed Cheren and sent him flying over the balcony edge, but he whipped out his Hookshot and latched the railing to fling himself to the air. He took aim at Morgan atop the Chompjaws and launched his other Hookshot, latching her front and pulling him forward. He raised his sword as Morgan did the same, a single, forceful impact between the two until Cheren was blown back.

Morgan charged a Psycho Beam and unleashed it at Cheren, but he raised his Mirror Shield and bounced it right back, injuring the Chompjaws. _"AAAAHHH!"_

"I didn't just visit Foster's." Morgan grabbed three Pokéballs from her jacket pocket. "I've made a few regular visits to Poké." She threw the balls into the air as their Pokémon flashed out. In order of appearance, they introduced their selves "Alakazam!", "Metagross.", and _"TUUU!"_ a Xatu.

"Oh darn, I should've brought my Gallade." Cheren frowned. "Oh well. Guess I'll have to fight dirty." He ran forward to strike, but Xatu flapped to him and made him jump, leaving him unprepared when Metagross jumped over and forcefully kicked him with its front leg. Cheren bounced and smashed against another table, gasping when Metagross leapt to pierce him with its spiked feet, but rolled away just in time. The three Pokémon used psychic to pick up tables and chuck them at Cheren, who swiftly dodge-flipped and blocked Xatu's talons with his sword when she came. She flew back when Metagross lunged forward and swung his leg, but Cheren flipped back and pelted a M.A.R.B.L.E. in his face.

"Gwah!" Cheren was lifted into the air by Alakazam's psychic, but he pulled enough strength to grab his bow and shoot an Ice Arrow, freezing the creature solid. Cheren landed on his feet, looking as Xatu flapped in the air, but Cheren quickly whipped out his Hookshot, pulled the bird down, and spun-slashed it across the chest as it fell back.

The Pokémon down, Morgan flew above and began to shoot half-sized Psycho Spheres, which Cheren dodged as he whipped out his Light Arrow and took aim. He launched, but Morgan simply teleported in front and engaged in a swordfight. It lasted short as Morgan thrusted her hand forward and blew Cheren against the railing with a psychic blast. Cheren stuck his sword in the ground to hold himself up. _Damn it… only three minutes and she's already got me beat. I don't remember Viridi being this hard. …I need to determine if she's powerful enough for the Fierce Deity Mask. Otherwise, she might…_

He got back up and raised his sword. "I'm not done, yet! Haaaaahh!" He ran forward with his sword skyward and tried to launch the beam of light, but Morgan zipped to his side and kicked him against a table. She grabbed several tables with her psychic and hurled them at him, but Cheren got up and sliced them all with his blade. Morgan shot at him in that chaos, but Cheren was quick to dodge-roll behind and leap, but Morgan whipped around and grabbed him in psychic. "YAAAH!" He was thrown forcefully against the rail.

The tentacles which Chompjaws lost suddenly grew back on his form. _"RRAAAAHH!"_

"Hnnn!… That's what I get for rushing into a fight without a plan." Cheren grunted. Chompjaws lashed its tentacles again, but Cheren dodged and swung his blade to slice them to pieces, running away when the bombs exploded. He grabbed a bunch of bombs in his sail, swung it around, and hurled them up to Chompjaws to explode on him again, knocking him dizzy.

But Morgan zapped another symbol into the ground and summoned 3 more Friends, a giant monster with flashing colorful eyes around its round head that blasted lasers everywhere, a giant praying mantis that looked like Joker, and what appeared to be a Snow Sphinx. Cheren dodged the Membeam's beams behind a table, and gasped when the Joking Mantis knocked it away and tried to whip him in a froglike tongue. Cheren dodged the tongue and slashed it, then flipped back when the Snow Sphinx tried to pounce him, shooting a Fire Arrow into its mouth. But it turned into a Sun Sphinx and began blasting fireballs instead, Cheren running away as they made huge explosions.

Their rampant attacks made the party-goers scream and cower behind tables, especially Carol Masterson, who looked more than worried for her future Supreme Leader. Cheren stopped running when the Membeam and Joking Mantis cornered him and prepared a double-attack, Cheren glancing behind him, noticing Sugar. He yanked his Hookshot to pull the girl toward him, and kicked her to Doflamingo just before the monsters fired energy/acid beams, just barely dodging before he was grazed. The Sun Sphinx shot a fireball before his feet that flew him onto his back, then pounced to pin him down as it hissed. It began to charge a furious beam in its lungs, Cheren struggling desperately to escape from its solid stone paw. He grew absolutely furious at his feeble strength compared to its, and within seconds, his body turned dark as flames emerged.

His body suddenly 10 times stronger, he blew the sphinx away, erupting powerful flames that he blasted at the Membeam to blind its vision, then singed the mantis's shrieking head. Morgan lunged back at him, swinging her saber faster than ever, but Cheren grabbed the plasma in his palm and blasted her back with a powerful fireblast. Landing on her feet, Morgan touched a hand to her forehead, "Psychic Gate, open!" and her body glowed with a powerful blue aura, her eyes glowing. She shot at Cheren as fast as he did, the strong psychic bubble made from a superior mind against a flame from the depths of Hell, made from an angry 9-year-old. Which one would prevail, only time would tell. The impeccable force and friction they created crushed the ground around them, and the viewers stepped back feeling a forceful wind. The two pushed against the other for 30 seconds before a winner was decided.

"WAAAAH!" Cheren flew against the rail again, knocked back into his regular form. He fixed his glare and rose again, seeing Morgan power down.

Twirling her saber, she burned a symbol in the ground and dissolved the former 3 monsters into smoke, pressing her hand to the symbol. "SUMMON!" And a greater puff of smoke exploded, and out came the monster.

_"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"_ A red dragon so terrifyingly tremendous, Cheren doesn't think the whole thing caught in his vision. Incredibly long and snakelike, with a shiny spiky body with black belly, angry yellow eyes, and two mouths of steel sharp teeth.

"Slifer the Sky Dragon is the greatest of all monsters." Morgan proclaimed. "It will destroy all enemies it's called against, and any other enemies who appear. It won't rest until all opponents are destroyed."

And in the glow that reflected off his glasses, Cheren saw his very death: the godlike dragon was charging an unavoidable beam in its top mouth. "This is what happens when you focus solely on your goals and strengths." Morgan stated. "Your average adult villains were still too childish to see that. But we have superior strength and intellect, and that's why it's our job to protect this world. Whether the threat is family, or friends. That is why our Leaders are the one, true Go-" Before she could speak, Don Quixote Sugar stepped in her way. "What?"

"Sugar!" Doflamingo's face scrunched with anger and fear. His daughter was clear in the wake of Slifer's wrath. "Get BACK here immediately! !"

"What's she doing? !" Sweetie-1 panicked.

"Mmm!" Carol was even more eager.

Slifer the Sky Dragon wasn't going to stop. As long as his enemy was living and breathing… he would remove him from the plane of existence.

"Nnnn…" Cheren glanced up, seeing the back of Sugar's yellow coat. She turned and approached him with her blank, toneless expression. "N…Numbuh Trebol…" (End song.)

Sugar's eyes turned darker as she pressed her hand against Cheren's forehead. _"Sorry."_

In that brief second, everything fell silent. A red Rainbow Monkey, with brown hair and glasses, appeared before her. Along with a sword, bow, and shield that seemed to just lay there. No signs of life in this soft, stuffed toy, its only expression a happy smile. Sugar lowered her hand, and her eyes never looked darker.

"…" Morgan became totally confused. Why was she standing there? Why was most of the balcony destroyed and ruined? She looked at her Chompjaws, seeing the creature was just as confused, scratching his shiny scalp with a tentacle. Her three Pokémon, Alakazam, Xatu, and Metagross, who had as much an idea as she. Why were they summoned to begin with?

And so the attention was directed to Slifer. It was summoned to destroy all enemies in the vicinity… but no such things existed. The all-powerful energy in his mouth, which can only belong to the gods, died away.

"Mmmmm?" Doflamingo frowned. "What are we all standing around for?"

"Hmm… I don't remember." Morgan flew back to Chompjaws and banished him in a puff of smoke. She called her Pokémon back into their balls, and flew up to banish Slifer. The incredible snake-dragon that wrapped around the mountain turned into smoke, gone like he was never there. "Let's take this party indoors. I'll have the night guy clean up." And she was first to walk in, the other guests patiently following. Mom also joined, though her head felt very uneasy. She coulda sworn she was gonna enact some diabolical plan, but what that was, she couldn't remember. Maybe it was just an impulse…

Sugar picked up the red Rainbow Monkey and pressed it to her chest as she walked. The stuffed doll felt no heartbeat from her body. It felt nothing… like all stuffed dolls feel.

Upon settling in the larger dining hall, Carol pulled out a small laptop. Her Arctic Training was going well, and she was close to perfecting her new skill. …She was just sad she wouldn't be able to graduate, with no Supreme Leaders to approve her.

**Uno House**

An odd sensation fell over Rachel Uno. She felt so lightheaded for a brief moment… it was weird. She glanced at a picture above the couch, one of her raising the Master Sword with Fanny and Patton by her side, and Fi floating overhead. "Siiiigh… those were such good times. But why doesn't Fi accept any of my kids as her wielder? …Oh well. They're still good the way they are." She smiled. "But it's still weird Lehcar didn't give any of her kids powers. …Hmm…"

**McKenzie House**

"Hnn-nnnnn!… … UUH!" In another attempt to keep a boulder in the air, Anthony was crushed.

Angie approached and shoved the boulder off him. "Anthony, you almost had it."

"Uuuhh…" He got up. "What's the point, this is too hard. Why can't I just be a kickboxer."

"Hmmmm." Angie rubbed her head. "If only you had someone to look up to. Someone to inspire you to keep trying. Can you think of anyone like that?"

"What, like my two cousins? They're nothin' special. Aunt Rachel a little but, it's not like I see her in action."

"I guess her husband is no one to admire, either." Angie smiled in disbelief. "Siiigh… there has to be someone."

**Chariton Household**

Sunni had been feeling very uneasy lately… but now it was though something slipped her mind. But for some reason, she recalled her notion to work on Moonbase with Darcy, but as it wasn't working out, they left that post. So now Sunni had no important use in the KND… and what inspiration had she to train with psychic anymore. Her mom could definitely help herself…

**KND Moonbase**

Panini manned her post with the utmost boredom. No sectors called in a while… and she had nothing to do. Just a 4DS in her pocket with no challenging Wi-Fi rivals. Oh, her life was dull…

**On route to Texas**

Team Emily didn't have any available S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s in Sector N unfortunately, so they got across the country using a G.O.G.O.-G.O.R.I.L.L.A.. The journey was fairly boring as night was falling again, but Gary ceased controlling the robot when an odd sensation swept over them. "What are we… doing again?" asked Emily.

"Goin' to Uncle Sheldon's to stop these apes, Ah reckon." Sarah replied.

"I know, but… whaddid these apes have to _do_ with anything? I know they showed up outta nowhere, and have accomplices somewhere… but I just can't recall what they might be doing."

"Eh, yer head's got too much blowin' around 'nside it, it'll come back eventually. Although… I feel right wrong in it, too." Sarah touched her hair. "Let's just keep goin'." And so the robot trudged forward.

**IC's S.C.A.M.P.E.R., Galaxia**

The same odd sensation swept over the five operatives, but especially the timebenders. "George… do you feel that?" MaKayla said with weak breath.

"I know, I… Miyuki?"

Under her toneless eyes, Miyuki was very horrified. "Something…Something terrible just happened. We have to get to GKND soon."

**DunBroch, 800 years ago**

Another casual day in Sector DB as Merida walked up to her treehouse. But almost instantly, she was surprised by MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall, the former two raising her by the arms. "Hey, THERE'S our leader!" They carried and dropped her on the couch.

"H-Hey, what's the occasion?" she laughed.

"It's the 6-month anniversary ya slew that monster fer us, Princess!" Macintosh cheered. "Them grown-up blokes may be ignorant, but WE know what ya did!"

"Hehehe, ya really didn't need to. I still can't believe I went through all that by myself. I barely even remember it all. …"

**Across the U.S.**

This crazy rumor about an Apocalypse drastically began to die down. All of the adults received the news from their kids, but even the kids had no idea where such a thing originated from. The whole thing was officially declared as just a fad, just some wild crazy thing some unknown crazy person was spreading around. In a sudden sweep, peace had returned to the U.S.. So much energy they wasted panicking over nothing. Now they could get on with their lives. There was nothing to fear…

**Uno House**

Rachel Uno lay on her couch in boredom. There was nothing going on to her knowledge, so it was time to be lazy. But the area within her cleavage felt a bit itchy, so reaching in, she discovered a folded piece of paper. She unwrapped and read a strange note, saying to come to Roguetown Station at 8pm, tell no one. Signed with a heart. And something else written in pen, written _Send rescue party to Roguetown Station May 3, at 3:00pm 'case Cheren don't call._ Rachel quirked a brow. When did she get this? And from who? Glancing upward while her head lay on the armrest, she spotted the upside-down picture of her kids and… someone else. She flipped right-side-up to study this strange boy with brown hair, red glasses, and her familiar chestnut-brown eyes. She didn't remember this boy at all…

**Midway Gala**

Carol got bored after looking at her computer for awhile. But feeling something heavy in her pocket, she pulled out a 4DS. She doesn't remember asking her mom to buy this. It was paused on _Mario Kart 4-D_ apparently, with Panini Drilovsky as a contact. Why would Carol have a 4DS and have Panini as a Friend? Er, apparently… the Mii belonged to some guy named Cheren.

**KND Arctic Base**

The teenager inside the farthest prison cell was panicking. He never felt this mad in his life. _"H-H-How could I be so _stupid_? !"_ His eyes twitched. _"Not choosing a successor? ! Am I really that dumb? ! This organization is **doomed**. Doomed and it's all my fault! !"_ Desperate gasps for breath.

* * *

><p><strong>….Hmmm… I feel like I'm supposed to be writing someone else's story arc… must be my imagination. So just to clarify, Vanellope's levels are centered around <em>Mario World<em> ROM hacks, that explains all that business. Gamamaru is from _Naruto_, and Don Gero from _Majora's Mask_ (you may remember him). And that was a _Brady Bunch_ parody you saw back there. ;I Next time will be Sandman's next level, and a Sunni. See's.**


End file.
